WINNER WINNER TOFU DINNER

Once again I apologize for the infrequent posts. Life has been busy lately (more on that later). This post however will explain some of it.

The Trailmomma family is happy to announce that the Peanut has completed her first season of swim team! We attended our first ever “Champs” which was last weekend and was a three day affair! You read that right. The kids swam Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Luckily for the Peanut, the 6 and Under group only had to swim on Saturday. As a parent however, I had to volunteer 3 hours of my time during the weekend and with the advice of Gold Country Girl, I picked Friday after work to do my volunteer shift.

It was almost 100 degrees and I raced from one job to the other but in the end, it was so worth volunteering Friday because that left me free to enjoy the whole event on Saturday.

Lego Theme!
Lego Theme!

Each team in the league picked a theme and the Peanut’s team picked The Lego movie. The costumes were pretty “awesome” and she was given that “awesome” yellow lego man t-shirt (Everything is awesome!).

The temperatures for the weekend were predicted to touch 100 degrees. The meet itself was held at Sierra College in Rocklin which isn’t too far from our house but with all the teams in the league attending, we knew parking would be a struggle.

We left our house at 5:45 am and set up camp with the usual crew. The kids and teams all performed in a parade and as soon as the festivities were over, the meet began.

The Peanut had to swim in two events. The 25 yard back stroke and the 25 yard free style. I am learning a lot about swimming this year. I learned that during Champs, the heats are reversed and if you are in an earlier heat, then you are more or less in a slower group. Later heats are reserved for the faster swimmers. The Peanut had the best of both. Her back stroke was an early heat while her free style was in a later one.

Waiting to swim
Waiting to swim

It is hard to explain the size of this event and the magnitude of craziness that was happening all around us. If the Peanut was worried, she didn’t show it, at least not until she had to leave for the ready bench where she would sit and wait for 20 minutes before it was time to swim.

The second Ready Bench
The second Ready Bench

Her first event was the back stroke which is opposite of what she was used to from every other meet. She was also forced to warm up in a side pool which is something she has never done before either. She handled it all like a pro and took her place in the pool.

Let's do this thing!
Let’s do this thing!

She was considered one of the faster swimmers in the slower heat so she scored a better lane which I know boosts her confidence. When the buzzer went off, she did her thing and swam her little heart out.

She ended up taking first place in her heat!!! Unfortunately, being in one of the slower heats, meant she really could not make it to the finals but she still supported her team.

In between heats we would wait it out in the tent trying to stay hydrated. Squeaker, on the other hand,  is pretty easy going and just finds something to occupy herself with …

Let's play cards!
Let’s play cards!

Soon it was time for the Peanut’s free style swim. As I mentioned earlier, she was seeded in a faster heat but due to the competition, was placed in a slower lane. This always plays with her mind despite what Vans and I tell her. Still, she was ready to get this thing over with.

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Her Swim Buddy
Her Swim Buddy

I was across the pool with Squeaker during this event. I saw all the kids in her heat get up on the super high blocks. When the Peanut swims at her home team pool, they have mini blocks for the 6 and Under group. These blocks, were college level standard blocks. The Peanut looked at the block and then looked at the other kids. When we swim at other team’s pools, she “dives” off the side of the pool and not the block, especially if they are too high. You could see the inner turmoil going on in her head. What should she do? This was Champs! ALL the other kids were on the blocks! But she has never gone off the blocks before!?

I saw her coach say something to her and I saw the Peanut get up on the block. Seconds later the buzzer went off and the Peanut DOVE into the pool. OFF THE BLOCKS!!! I was blown away. I mean, it was more of a belly flop than a dive but she had done it. She had conquered one of her biggest fears on her very last swim of the season!

It took a while for the Peanut to surface and while I wish I could say she finished first place and qualified for finals, the truth is she was last place but she emerged from the pool with a smile and said, “I did a massive belly flop!” 🙂

Later I had asked her what it was her Coach had said to her and she said, “She told me that she would PREFER I dive off the blocks.”

That was the beginning of a whole new world for the Peanut. Her team went on to win Champs by only 7 points! Her 6 and Under group dominated the events and was a huge reason in their success. When the Peanut got home from Champs and started swimming in our pool I said to her, “Hey, you realize that the blocks you jumped off today are higher than our own diving board?” She didn’t believe me but she stood on the diving board and looked out at the water. And then she dove in and the rest is history. She is a diving fiend now.

With a whole new form of confidence the Peanut could not wait until her team awards night. We were all super excited because the team had won and had quite a few swimmers attending the Meet of Champions in a few weeks.

When we arrived at the park where the awards was being held, the Peanut caught a glimpse of the tables covered in trophies. She was giddy with excitement.

The first group that they introduced was the 6 and Under group. The Peanut took off like a shot through the crowd. Vans and I looked at each other completely shocked that she went up there all by herself. There was a time when even though she had friends, she would not go stand in front of a large group.

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The 6 and Under girls

Coach Brownie announced that they were giving out individual awards to some of the kids. Sure we know the Peanut is a great kid, but she didn’t she didn’t break any swim records this season. You know what she did have though? Spirit and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Accepting her Spirit Award Trophy
Accepting her Spirit Award Trophy

From the girl that cried at quite a few swim practices in the beginning to the girl in the above photo, the Peanut has transformed this season. She stood there and smiled like she always does. Coach Brownie mentioned how she always has a smile on her face. I love that face.

Two Trophies Mom!
Two Trophies!

Unsure as to whether or not she even wanted to BE on the swim team this year, the Peanut has made Vans and myself super proud. She practiced in cold weather, rainy weather and a million degree weather. She practiced five or six times a week!

As I have mentioned, Vans and myself were never swimmers on a swim team. We learned quite a bit ourselves this season. Most importantly, we learned we have a little girl who will conquer her fears (on her own time) and wow everyone in the process. Congrats Peanut. Thank you for being such an “awesome” kid!

Happy Trails Swimming!

~Trailmomma

 

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HARD WORK PAYS OFF (THE PEANUT’s SECOND SWIM MEET)

As I mentioned in my last post, the Peanut is now on a swim team which makes finding time for long trail runs a little harder to manage. She practices almost 4 sometimes 5 days a week (whether with the team or at Steve Wallen Swim School) and has a meet every Saturday until August.

VIRB Picture

This past weekend was her second swim meet and her very first “away” meet (visiting the Sierra Sharks in Cameron Park). What is new for the Peanut is also new for Vans and myself. We are not used to this sort of thing as neither one of us was ever on a swim team. Soccer? Sure! I know all about traveling to tournaments and playing two games in one day (3 or 4 on a weekend) but I was never the PARENT in that situation. Dear Dad, I am sorry for all those crazy hot tournaments that you drove me to … luckily you didn’t have a 2 (almost 3) year old Squeaker to drag along with you. Poor kid!

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It was one HOT weekend but the Trailmomma family rallied like troopers. Thank goodness for GCRS Girl and her family. They are veterans of the swim meet and truly help us out in a way that I cannot even describe.

We arrived at the pool, found GCRS and family and set up our little camp. The kids immediately go into “what cool snacks did we pack” mode. Swim meets = eating lots of random snack and junk food.

The Peanut was listed in two events again, the 25 yard freestyle and the 25 yard back stroke. When it came time for her freestyle event we made our way down to the pool. Unsure of the set up, we noticed that they had regulation diving blocks instead of the mini-ones the 6 and Under kids are used to.

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Vans and I separate and each move to one end of the pool. This race, the Peanut was swimming towards Squeaker and myself. I saw her shake her head and refuse to get on the block … that’s ok, they are not required to jump from there.

When the buzzer blew, she jumped and started swimming. I was cheering so loud hoping that she could hear me under the water. All of a sudden, I notice that she’s one of the first few reaching the wall! She touched the wall and the timer turned to me and said “She got first place!” What?! My Peanut had swam FIRST in her heat!! She came out of the pool and I told her that she may have won AND that she beat her previous time by almost TEN SECONDS!!! Huge accomplishment. She was glowing.

She was given a bead from the coaches for achieving a PR. I think she was more happy with the bead than the new time!

Even Squeaker was proud of her!
Even Squeaker was proud of her!

Next up was her back stroke. Once again, all four of us made our way down to the scorching hot pool. Poor Squeaker was barely hanging in, she was so hot.

Starting in the water, the Peanut was put into lane 5. We were told by GCRS Girl that lanes 4 and 5 are reserved for the “fastest” of swimmers. When the buzzer went off, the Peanut pushed off the wall and started her back stroke. She stayed almost 100% straight and I saw her looking for the wall near the end. Instead of giving up and kicking (like she has done in the past) she reached and moved her arms another stroke touching the wall! She was first place AGAIN! She also got another PR by just a hair this time too! Who IS this kid? 🙂

A winner that's who!
A winner that’s who!

Apparently losing a tooth and getting a short summer hair cut made all the difference in her strokes this race.:)

Numero uno!
Numero uno!

When she got her bead, we also treated the kids to smoothies and icies (the post race ritual now I guess).

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Once we were home, I blasted into full force mode. Lunch for the girls, nap for Squeaker and a hot hot run for me. I just needed to get few miles in and it was blistering hot outside so I picked what I thought would be the shadiest route.

6 miles later I arrived home completely drenched but I felt better. It was probably the toughest 6 miles I have done in a while.

I saved some energy because I knew on Sunday I would be running with Pigeon and we were planning to do 10 to 12 miles.

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So dry. So hot.
So dry. So hot.

Our goal was to start at 6:30 am and run some of the same route I had on the day prior. Pigeon was kind enough to come run in my hood knowing that I had to work at 10:30 am.

When she arrived I was having some shoe difficulty but soon we were off and noticing how warm it already was at just 6:45! Ouch.

We ran a few local trails over towards Brown’s Ravine. The first thing we see as we entered Brown’s was a gaggle of turkeys. TONS of them. All over the place and they had babies with them. Great, baby turkeys. The local turkeys are procreating, just what I needed to know!

Camouflage turkey heads
Camouflage turkey heads

As we ran I noticed neither one of us was really running like our usual selves. It just seemed like “work” to run. Folsom Lake looked gorgeous though and is definitely filling up with water (slowly).

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We saw quite a few FTR runners on the trail too. When my Garmin Buzzed 5 miles I stopped. I told Pigeon that we were at 5 and if we head back now, we’d have 1o. “I said 10 or 12,” Pigeon replied. “Ok, are we doing 12 then? We can run to the levee and that might give us a enough,” I say.

“What do you want to do?” Pigeon replies. “Man, if I had a quarter I’d flip it and let that make our decision.” I say half jokingly. “I have a Gu packet!” Pigeon says “Let’s flip that.”

When in doubt, flip a gel!
When in doubt, flip a gel!

Yes, that is totally a scientific way of making a decision when out on a trail. PowerGel side up we continued on (aka Powering On) if it was the back of the packet, we were turning towards home.

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Onward we went, all the way to the levee (which really wasn’t much further than where we had flipped the packet). 🙂

The run back was a struggle. Our energy was low, the temps were rising but we still had our sense of humor. We talked about our plans for Tahoe Rim and for some future runs. It as nice to reconnect with Pigeon as it has been a few weeks.

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What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and having what should be a short easy run turn into something that feels like a marathon in a sauna while breathing through a straw is a good thing. It brings your brain and your body to a low point and it is how you react to that low point that matters. We could have given up and called Vans for a ride home but we didn’t. We hiked onward trying to lift ourselves up. Pigeon is not training for an easy race in July. She will hit low moments and who knows where those moments will strike. They could very well be on a flat easy section. It is how we handle those moments that matters.

As the Peanut has demonstrated recently, hard work in practice will produce good results. So get to work. 🙂

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Happy Trails!

~Trailmomma

 

 

 

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