Yada Yada Yada

I have to once again pre-empt this with the fact I started this blog about a week and a half ago. I think my promise in the new year to myself (I don’t like to call them resolutions) is to keep better track of time and try not to take on so much. Don’t get me wrong, I like being busy and active, but the everyday stuff just piles up in the meantime. We always have an excuse to let things fall by the wayside.
Zheesh! I think I even needed recovery from my Longhorn blog. Time just gets away from us and before we realize, it’s been a week or more since we blogged. I try to keep it up, but it seems that I have too many Irons in the fire (pun intended). Anyway, I’m just going to hit on some highlights from the past month or so in this blog. I know myself well enough that I have a very short memory and, at times, questionable about details of things that happen. So I have to either write it down or relay it immediately to someone else. My poor husband is the recipient of a lot of these stories and gets a little frustrated with me if my story is too long. So in respect to that, I have learned to condense things a little more and just relay the important happenings. Not to say that I don’t still get a bit wordy at times. My friend Sarah once commented on one of my blogs that I can be as long winded as I want to in my blogs, because they are mine! So true, Sarah!
Chris and I went to John and Diane’s river house in Heber Springs in late September. They have a barn on a separate part of their property in which the second floor is a small living space, sort of an apartment. Diane refers to this as the “Love Nest”. This is where we and all the other guests who will be there more than one night stay. I have to say it’s pretty groovy and it comes by its name honestly! I won’t go into detail about how I know such things. Anyway, Diane was getting ready to do her first triathlon the next weekend. We did an abbreviated race rehearsal to give her a feel for transitioning and she really wanted to ride the bike course to see what she was in for. It was a pretty good course with a severe climb right before the turn around. Coming back down was a little sketchy around a certain switchback that brought back memories of descending Mt. Nebo. She did great and was really glad she got a preview, but unsure that she was fit enough to complete the whole thing. I, on the other hand, was 100% sure she would finish and she would be hooked. I’m psychic like that. Or maybe that’s psychotic. We took it easy for the rest of the day and even helped clean up the yard a bit while John was getting ready to start dinner. We had a fish fry that night and Jo and Matt joined us. We had a great time! The next morning we walked over from the “Love Nest” and we all went for a run. John says he’s not fast, but he was really moving. He was talking and didn’t seem to be out of breath. I, on the other hand, was gasping for air. When we finished our run, we had a little breakfast and were slotted to go floating before we left to go home. I’ve never been floating and was curious to see what’s involved. I’ve heard, on more than one occasion, that you should, under no circumstance, get into a canoe or kayak with your significant other or best friend. It can be the cause of great friction in a relationship. So I got into the canoe with Diane and Chris and John were in separate kayaks. Diane has been teaching people to canoe and kayak for about 12 years so I was fairly certain that I would be enjoying my drift down the cold, but calm waters of the Little Red. Chris sort of looked like a deer in headlights because he was so afraid of tipping the kayak and dunking himself the 54 degree water. I can’t say I blamed him. There were several flyfishers out with a fog hovering just about the water. It looked like something out of a photo or painting. We did get to see a beaver out for his morning swim. He just swam right through the middle of us like we weren’t even there. We really enjoyed ourselves and John and Diane are great hosts.

Okay, I have to tell you about my sweet, new ride! I can’t even believe she’s mine. Chris and I were on our way back from Austin and I was emailing back and forth with Pat about my new tri bike. We thought (hoped) it would be in before the ½ Ironman, but it was probably just as well that it wasn’t here. I wouldn’t have ridden it anyway, I don’t like to change stuff right before an event, it’s just taboo. It’s a Guru and I am in looooove. Most people say that climbing is difficult on a tri bike. I didn’t find that to be true. We did a ride that took us over Wye Mtn. last weekend and she performed beautifully. Although I’m having to get used to a standard double up front. I had to stand while climbing for the most part. This weekend we are supposed to go back to Heber Springs to John and Diane’s place to do a Fall Foliage ride. It’s a pretty hilly course so I’m sure I will have an even clearer picture of how she performs.
Friday of the week following the Longhorn, I accompanied my sister and nephews to the pumpkin patch. She had volunteered to be a chaperone for my nephew Graham’s class field trip and needed someone to watch my other nephew Reid. She gave me the option of either watching him at their house or going with them to the pumpkin patch. No way was I going to miss the pumpkin patch; that seemed like too much fun! We arrived and the first activity was the pig races. I think this was more for the adults than the kids. It was really funny. Then we went on a hayride, pet some goats, played in the haystack and had lunch. I’m glad I opted for the pumpkin patch!
Last Saturday, Chris and I ran the Soaring Wings ½ marathon in Conway. It was the best run I’ve had to date. It was in the low 40’s when the race kicked off at 8. Quite a difference from the upper 80’s of the Longhorn. Chris wanted to do a sub 2 hour race and I just decided to use this for a marathon training run, but if I could do it in less than 2 hours that would be a nice perk. It was rolling hills pretty much the entire time, but no severe climbs. I stayed with the 2 hour pace guy until about 2 miles out and decided I was ready to take off. The last downhill was pretty painful, but I rounded the corner and saw, guess who….No really, guess! Yup, you got it, Mr. Christopher Irons! All I could think was, “Did he finish or did someone pick him up and bring him in?” I’m so proud of him; he finished in 1:56:24! I finished 1:59:30 and was really pleased with that. I hope it’s a sign of things to come.

Between the event about which ended this blog some other things have happened. I’ll try to catch up in a day or two (weeks). Rrrrrriiiiiight!