Mommy & Me QUAD : 12 Mile Bike

July 9, 2011, my Mommy & I did our 2nd annual QUAD 12 Mile Bike Ride on the beautiful country roads of Edinboro! We were lucky and got to start in the morning before it got too hot outside!


Mom got to start 4 minutes before I did, and it took me about 6 miles to catch her! I was completely drenched in sweat and so exhausted trying to catch up - aka - I'm so out of shape. I could have sworn there were people with motors on their bikes, because I don't think it is physically possible to go as fast as they were!


But we finished together and we beat our time from last year by 4 minutes!

We only rode our bikes once before that race, so I'm happy we beat our time!

Next up is the 5 mile run! We went "running" together last Sunday at the beach . . it was CRAAZZZY there. People everywhere. Cars everywhere. And it was a million degrees out. But I loved every minute of it. Can't wait until September! More exercise and quality time with my mommy! :-)

Mommy & Me QUAD : 100 Yard Swim

April 10th, Mommy and I continued our annual tradition (2nd year) of the QUAD by completing the 100 yard swim.


Last year we swam twice before the actual event (aka - went to the Y and talked in the pool). This year the QUAD had a swim program at the Y where you could go 4 times before the event and an instructor would help you out with what you needed to work on. We had such a blast and it really was helpful!


I learned how to go off the starting blocks (even though the instructor swear I already knew).


And I was able to swim the front crawl the entire 100 yards, where as last year I had to resort to the backstroke for about half (I couldn't breathe! I realize that 100 yards sounds like nothing, but you should try it!)


I finished first in my heat.


And I dropped a honkin 14 seconds off my time from last year! (1:27 to 1:13)
Not to make excuses, but I also just started doing Insanity that week too, so I'm pretty happy with my time!


Mommy getting ready!


And she's done! She's a quick one!


Mom dropped almost 30 seconds off her time from last year! I was so proud of her!


Mom trying to catch her breath, but me saying "smile"! She's such a great sport and I'm so blessed that we are able to do this together!

If you are interested, here is the website to sign up! It really is such a great program! You don't have to do all 4 events . . . . you can choose between swim, bike, run, and ski/snowshoe! And it's all different ages and fitness levels!

Mommy's 50th Birthday!

Tuesday was my mother's 50th birthday (shh! don't tell her I told you how old she is . . . not that the decorating doesn't give it away)!


That day, I spent my entire lunch hour decorating their house. Jumping up and down like a little Mexican bean trying to get all those spirals hung from the ceiling. But it was a good work out, and well worth it for my mommy.

I asked my mommy what she wanted to do for her 50th . . . NYC, Toronto, surprise party, skydiving, spa day . . . but she just said she wanted a quiet night with my dad, shane, and I. . . so that's what she got.


Some yummy pizza from Hungry Howie's (garlic & herb crust is the BEST)!


And a delish and cute cake from Giant Eagle!


I got her a fun shirt and this framed piece from pictures of the quad that we did together. The 100 yard swim, the 12 mile bike, the 5 mile run, and the 2.5 mile snowshoe.

Thank you sooooooo much to my awesome hubby for his engraving skills (it has our times engraved in the frame along with "Mommy & Me Quad . . 2010 - 2011). And to one of my BFF's, KT, for her graphic design skills in laying out the pics for me.


(Behren wanted in a pic.)

My mom kept saying she didn't even feel old until she realized I was going to be turning 27 in a few weeks. (Does that make me old too?!)

I personally think that for 50, she looks awesome . . . and I told her she acts like she's 30, so she's good.

We had a wonderful night and it was so good to spend time with my mommy. No matter how old I get, there's nothing like snuggling in my mommy's arms.

Mommy & Me Quad : 2.5 Mile Snowshoe

Last Sunday, my mommy and I did the last leg of the quad . . . the 2.5 mile snowshoe! (The competitive participants had to do a 5 mile cross country ski).



It was a blast! And so great to finish the last part. We did it all. And we did it together.




We stayed in the back to start. .. it was crazy up front!!



We passed a guy on the way that fell in like 4 feet of snow. My my mom said, "are you ok?!" The guy said, "Yep." . . my mom said, "I missed it." The guy said, "it was a pretty good face plant." And then I found $5 . . . . .



All done! What a great way to get out and exercise, and even better to do it with my awesome mommy! You should sign up for next year! April 10th. 100 Yard Swim. Who's in?!

Mommy and Me Quad! 5 Mile Run!

Saturday, September 11, 2010, my mother and I competed in the third event in the quad! The 5 mile run! It started at 9am in North East, and after only being 44 degrees out when we woke up, it warmed up fast and ended up being beautiful weather for the run (through the amazing smelling grape vines).


Do you see us?! Although you might think your heart should be pounding most at the end of the race, mine was pumping the fastest at the beginning. The suspense. The anticipation. The rocky music. The "runners on your marks . . . . get set. . . GOOOOOOOOOO!!!"


Here's us on the home stretch!


We did it!! Here is where I started to cry because I was just so proud of my mommy for doing this with me. 5 miles is a long way, and for her to do that with me and be excited and not complaining at all was just so great! She was so motivated and ready!


5 mile run . . check! Next and last event is the 2 1/2 mile snowshoe walk!


p.s. - thank you so much to my awesome hubby and pup, Behren, for coming to the race with us, capturing all these moments, and cheering us on. It was so nice.

Mommy and Me Quad! 12 Mile Bike Ride!

If you remember, my mom and I signed up to do the Highmark Quad. (See here for details of the quad). We completed the swim back in April, and had the 12 mile bike race on Saturday, July 10.

Don't let the sweet jersey fool you. I'm really not that good. GE wanted to support us and get more people involved at work by providing us with jerseys to wear at the race. They were pretty awesome. And it was so cool to see so many people from GE (in their jerseys) doing the bike race!

Here my mom and I just finished! I didn't want to make Shaney stay the entire race (it's not like the swim where he could watch us the entire time), so he got there right as we were walking over to the "thank goodness there is water and powerade tent". (Shane is how we got pictures of this event and I am so thankful to him for capturing these memories).

I stuck with my mommy the entire time, and she stuck with me. We were each others cheerleaders. And when this little 10 year old kid passed us for the fourth time, we just looked at each other and laughed, and it was just such a great mommy and me experience.

I just love her so much, and I am beyond proud of her for doing this with me. She is already so busy with work (going above & beyond), busy taking care of her mother who has Alzheimer's (feeding her and spending the night with her so they don't have to put her in a nursing home) , busy taking care of her mother-in-law who also has Alzheimer's, busy taking care of her hubby and doggy and kitty, and busy taking care of the neighborhood kids that she takes to playgrounds and cooks for. So for her to take more time to do this with me is just so great and so inspiring. Never have I met someone who spends so much of their time helping other people. I look up to her in so many ways, and I love her with all my heart.

Mommy & Me Quad : Swim!

Sunday marked the first event of the QUAD. The swim! 100 yards, which really doesn't seem that far, but holy cow! It's tiring when you are trying to go as fast as you can!
I asked my Mommy a while back to do the QUAD with me, and she said "yes!" (She said no pics of her, so don't tell her I put this up!) I really wanted to do the QUAD and was so glad that my mom was so eager and excited to do it with me!
I started out really well (thanks to the hubs for the pics)! I felt good, and my goggles weren't foggy or filled with water (always a plus). Then at about the 50 yard mark, I got REALLY tired. I don't breathe very well at all, let alone when I'm in the water, so that wasn't helping me.
So I flipped on my back to try to get more oxygen, but every time I would pick my arm up to do the backstroke, the water would go in my mouth! But I finally made it!
And so did my mommy! I was so proud of her! We both had a lot of fun and it felt so great afterward (she was feeling better than me! I couldn't breathe!)!
Excited to show off our awesome QUAD shirts! Seriously though. I was really excited about them! Blue, blue, and blue (love that color! . . don't notice my black coat that totally clashes with it though)! I guess when we complete all 4 events, we get an exclusive long sleeve t-shirt!
Here's Mommy and I after the event (her getting ready to leave)! I definitely think that we should maybe train a little more for the other events coming up rather than just going for a leisure (swim) run through once before the actual event! But it's so great to have my mommy in this with me. She's pushing me and I'm pushing her, and we are doing it together, and having a great time! Can't wait for the next event!! The 12 mile bike ride!

Mommy and Me Quad!

I really wanted to do the QUAD this year, and asked my mom if she wanted to do it with me. I thought it would be something fun, something challenging, something called exercise, something to bring our bond even closer than it already is.

FACTS:

• First QUAD ever that we will be doing . . . . EVER
• You can do the "Competitive" or "Fitness" category. We chose fitness so we don't have to fall down doing cross country skiing. The only other difference is that they post your times alphabetically for fitness and by fastest time for competitive.
  
• SWIM = 100 yards April 11, 2010
  
• BIKE = 12 Miles July 10, 2010
  
• RUN = 5 Miles Sept 11, 2010
  
• SNOWSHOE = 2.5 Miles Jan 9, 2011
  

Obviously, these aren't all done at the same time (THANK GOODNESS!!), but it will help keep us active throughout the ENTIRE year (hopefully). . which will be good!

We actually went to the YMCA last night to see if we could even complete 100 yards swimming. . . . success! We actually swam 250 yards (not without taking a little breather in between, but still . . . we know we can do it! . . as long as we are allowed to do that there!)!

Next weekend marks our first event! Hopefully I can bring Shaney and/or my dad along to take some pics of us!

Mommy and Me QUAD . . here we come!

p.s. - This isn't an April Fool's joke.