I'm back!

Have you missed me? I have been exercising extreme discipline, this past month, as I tried to juggle mommy, student, trainee, and employee. Thankfully, one hat can be hung (literally) until the spring, as the Iceman is, now, behind us.

I spent nearly a year training for my very first mountain bike race and was sorely disappointed with my results. Ty brought the flu home 2 weeks ago and our home has been a recurring pool of sickness. Neither Ben nor I should have raced, as breathing proved difficult after the first few miles...but we persevered...and crossing that finish line never felt so good.

Ben started a ficticious club that has grown in popularity - League of Extraordinary Bikers. Although there are several members, Meeghan and I are the only women brave enough to get our pedal on.

We overcame tremendous odds as we both became moms,this June, and trained on little sleep and pure exhaustion. Not to mention Meeg actually had her baby - 5 months ago! She is also mom to two others under the age of 4. I started my Master's, we both went back to work, and in the last month it was dark before I could even get home from work. But, we did it! We pushed through and cheered each other on the whole way.

Our hubbies were only able to see us off and then had to head to their race. Believe it or not, the burly-bearded man pictured with me, below, is Ben. Iceman is usually in the low to mid 30's (hence the beard), but we got lucky, this year with mid 50's!

Meeghan and I lined up with our wave (right side - hands in the air). We were significantly prepared, but it is impossible to explain just how horrendously difficult this 8-mile off-road race was. The best way it can be explained is monstrous sandy hill after monstrous sandy hill. I knew I was in trouble when I could barely walk up some of the hills with my bike!

Biking has given me great purpose. I started riding because Ben was. I wanted to be with him and I needed a distraction from infertility. There are few things in life we have control over, having a baby being the hardest one for me. Jumping on my bike, however, became healing.

I finally had control over something in my life. I contolled my speed, endurance, competitive attitude, and mental ability to push my body to new extremes. There is something freeing about throwing all caution to the wind and racing over bridges and flying down hills. There is an adrenaline that comes with conquering obstacles and an accomplishment at exceeding goals.

Even being sick, I was able to finish middle of the pack. I definitely could say "been there, done that," but I'm not quitting now. I want to win. Next year's goal. I want Ty to see his mom as a fighter...a conquerer...I want him to know that he can do anything he sets his mind to, no matter how unlikely.

If he doesn't learn that from mom, he'll definitely see it in dad. Our crazy hard race was nothing compared to Ben's. Same style, nearly 4 times longer! I was able to cheer Ben on at mile 19 and I could tell he was hurting...we learned a valuable lesson about flu recovery that day! Ben refused to quit and pushed on for the last 10 miles.

Shout out to the boys for all their hard work. They rocked it!

After the big race, we indulged in a much deserved break on the beach. Ben and I were minus Ty for the first time in 5 months...and really enjoyed each other, for the weekend.

We caught the tail end of Juno, in our hotel room one night and I looked over to see tears streaming down Ben's face. Tyrus has rocked our world and life will never be the same. We smell every flower and see every blue sky. The crickets don't escape us and we are forever thankful for Rebekah's sweet gift to our family. There isn't anything the three of us can't handle together.


Because I know you want to see Ty, I will leave you with this cutie picture and let you listen to Ty's new means of communicating (see below).

This just started, today.