The minster Oktoberfest has been a bright spot for the houseofdixon these past years. We have made it another one of those annual races. Tiff has done this race many more times than I as she participated during her younger years. This race is always exciting due to the prize money offered for winners. If you don’t know, prize money is a great way to get some incredibly high-caliber athletes to run your race. Put it this way…the winner was running a 4:46 per mile pace…that is wicked fast…put it this way…the 2008 Olympic Gold medal winner ran a 4:21 per mile pace. All of that to say, we really enjoy this event both because of the competition and the food/festival afterwards.
This year, I decided to push the stroller and my dad came down to run, so we ended up running together. It was the very first 3G (generation) race! Cora slept most of the way…again, but woke up just before we all 3 crossed the finish line! I just spent a few minutes perusing the race photos and as it is pretty easy to spot a stroller as i quickly scroll across the page, I found 3 pictures taken of us around mile 4 1/2. Here’s one of them (they have watermarks across them because they are official photos)
Now it’s Tiff’s turn…She had an absolutely incredible race! She had a 10K PR of 39:49 (first time to break 40 mins) and came in 1st in her age group! If you’ve been following the Tiff’s exploits these past months you’ll know that this race breaks her winning streak, though an age group win amongst that many high-quality runners is still quite impressive in my book. I think she was pretty happy with her performance as well. The best part was that she received as an award for her first place age group finish, what has to be the single best award EVER!!! I’m serious this thing is awesome and the real deal! What is it… a wooden shoe (or clog, for those traditionalists) Here’s some pics:
Cora learned to sit up mostly on her own…until she decides to grab at something just out of reach…then she falls over. I did manage to get some fun shots of her this past weekend…i did a bit of retouching…cause it was sorta fun.
I’ve got some photos that don’t necessarily have much to do with each other, but I’ll attempt to show/describe them with a bit of storytelling.
Picture #1 – I was playing around with my old video camera lens that sorta does a wide-angle effect and I found that it fits on my Nikon lenses…so I put it on and snapped this photo of Cora one day at home on her mat…
Picture #2 – Cora went to her first wedding (congrats to Rob & Liz!) and I snapped this pic during the reception outside of the Masonic Center in Toledo…
Picture #3 – Separated by almost 98 years. Cora saw her Great-Great Grandma for the second time for a 98th Birthday Celebration we recently had. Great-Great Grandma Treva currently has 3 Great-Great Grandchildren which is outstanding!
Yesterday was a special race for a number of reasons. First, It was Father’s Day! My first Father’s Day since becoming…a Father. Secondly, it was Tiffany’s first race since Cora was born. Finally, it was Cora’s first Triathlon spectating experience. Quite a day indeed!
Let’s start the reporting off in reverse order of importance…Me first…
Being my second race of the year, and my first olympic distance, I felt as prepared as I could be given the lower training levels compared to last year. My wave was well after Tiffany’s as she is doing sprint distance this year, so I get to wait around a while until getting my piece of the melee that is triathlon beach starts. I can’t really say much about this race other than that I felt strong the whole way and didn’t overdo any one part. I was excited, however, that my average bike speed for the 24mi was 22.1 mph! The other exciting thing about the race is the photo above, where I actually look like I am running!
Now on to Tiffany’s comeback race!
She will probably say that she didn’t train nearly enough, which is possible, but given the outcome, I’d say she is doing just fine. With a 20.4 mph bike average and a 22:06 5K she took 1st place in her age group by a whopping 6 minutes and 3 seconds!
As far as Cora’s first spectating experience, I’d say that too was a success. Tiffany’s mom, [read: grandma] came with us and the two of them and friend Mike W. hung out together while watching us. Sadly, we have no photos of this as I forgot to pack a camera…I guess she will just have to start racing to get photos at these things…
Cora has now received her very own pair of sea legs during the first trip out on my parent’s boat. Not surprisingly, she was very content and even slept while the boat was moving (bumping and jostling is her favorite pastime). A side note: baby sunblock is very thick, it kinda turned her skin white for the next 30 mins or so…I guess you know it’s working if you can see it…On to the pictures…
There’s one toy that I’ve always loved for little kids, I have fond memories of this myself, and have spent hours watching little cousins and other tiny little people enjoy the simple yet thrilling device…”Johnny Jump Up” How could you not just love this thing and jealously want one for people way, way outside the 30lb. max weight…say like 180lbs. Well, I finally decided that it was time to assemble and test our very own johnny jump up with Cora. She is so small that we had to wrap a blanket around her so she could stay somewhat upright in it. Even still she is dwarfed by the size of it and barely keeps her head above the top…but she loved it! Spinning around, kicking her legs to almost represent a jumping movement…Remember she is only 2 1/2 mos. old. We tried to get some video of this momentous occasion, but alas, that didn’t turn out nearly as well as we had hoped. Here are some pretty decent photos of our fun time.
In other news: Cora rolled over from her back to her tummy 3 or 4 times last evening, and even ended up on her elbows in a pseudo crawling posture! Again, one of those moments that happened so fast we hadn’t even thought of getting the video cam out…
What’s the Goomba reference you ask? Well, for those that remember, a goomba is a small mushroom like character from Mario Bros. My first thought when I saw Cora in the Johnny Jump Up was that she looked just like a Goomba…large combination head/body and legs. It may be a bit of a stretch, but, I liked it and have started occasionally calling her “My Little Goomba” Click here for Goomba wikipedia article and here for a photo of a Goomba.
Last night Tiffany and I decided to try out the jog stroller with Cora. We picked a time that gave us the best odds of having a good run, and packed everything into the stroller, locked the car seat in and took off for the city park. Our thought was that we could run the 1/2 mile loop around the park and if we ran into any issues or crying we could run home quickly. Best laid plans, huh?
The first 10 minutes were well enough, Cora just looked back at us from her seat, so I snapped some pictures. Tiff took a turn pushing and I got some photos of her running along. Then came the first cries…followed by more cries which turned into a full-blown scream. We stopped and Tiff held her for a while until we thought she was asleep and continued on. She fussed until we got out of the park and onto a bumpy sidewalk…She fell fast asleep and we decided to go over to my folks house and back. All in all I call it a success, and we found that the key to success is bumpiness…Here’s some photos and a video of Tiff pushing the stroller and Cora’s face…
Yesterday during the sermon, our Pastor told the story of when he was growing up he detested the smell of a certain Bisquick cake his father used to bake. Years later, after the passing of his father, he found himself baking that very cake and being reminded of the fond memories he had. A once mal-odor became a sweet memory through the lense of time and experience. Every once in a while I have a similar olfactory experience and it is one in particular that I found myself dwelling on after church was over.
As I was looking through some bags and random racing/triathlon supply boxes, I found myself looking into the closet of our guest bedroom, which happens to have our wetsuits. Suddenly, I found myself taken back to the last triathlon of the much storied (at least by me) 2008 racing season…the Portage Lakes Triathlon, the last race in the Wheelie Fun Racing Series. The culmination of a season packed with lifetime memories and experiences, excruciatingly painful running courses, seemingly endless uphill bicycle battles, frigid swim courses, that feeling you get as you come into view of the finish line, hearing your name followed by the 4 words “You are an Ironman” and knowing you have earned it. Memories abound as I reminisce about predawn wake ups, race day checklists, pre-visualizing T1 then T2 making sure everything is in its place, shoes here visor there…don’t forget the race number belt. All of this because of a smell…
What was the smell? Like Pastor Malanga’s sermon, it wasn’t the smell of roses, or fresh bread, no this scent has a darker origin…Neoprene and stale lake water. Why does this smell have such power over my memories? Why does the combination of synthetic rubber and highly suspect lake water have such a cogent affect? It isn’t a sweet smell, not particularly inviting at all, but it is the smell that bears the memories of a summer spent training, racing and traveling with my wonderful wife. It was a good summer, one I’m sure to look back upon fondly as I share those memorable moments with friends, family and now…my daughter Cora.
Tiffany and I were talking yesterday afternoon, and I mentioned how that summer could not have been planned better. It was a grueling schedule of training, B-races, A-races, and everything else. It was exhilarating, challenging, painful, but most of all…wicked awesome fun! Tiffany had a suspicion and we later confirmed that during Ironman and all subsequent races, that she was pregnant. She was still able to not only compete in the remaining triathlons we’d planned, but she became the champion of the Wheelie Fun Series…with child… All of this and many more memories are firmly stored in that part of my brain that can be accessed by (among other things) the smell of a man-made rubber-like product aimed at keeping me warm and the strange concoction known as your ordinary off-the-shelf lake water.
As we plan our comparatively meager racing schedule for this year, I find myself still highly affected by the smell that currently resides in the closet of our guest bedroom, to which I’ve returned a few times to make sure those memories are still there. I do not look back with a sense of longing or regret that life has taken its unexpected turns, no those memories deserve so much more. They are a single summer, a collection of events that came together in a way that can never be, nor should ever be, repeated. That smell will forever be known in my own mind as the smell of racing.
Every day brings with it a multitude of new experiences for Cora. Just staring at the ceiling fan is cause for great observation and contemplation. Her very own hands can be cause for great concern as they (from her perspective…i’m told) are an unidentified flailing object that is not only a nuisance, but a source of distress. At some point we all started experiencing our world in a similar way and haven’t stopped learning since. As a parent, I have the great opportunity of not only observing this process (9 mos from the beginning), but being a guiding participant in it.
On a lighter note, I’m led to believe that when a newborn smiles it is not because of some awesome joke or crazy face i’ve just made, but a reaction to excess gas making its way through her digestive system…
One of the great things about having a new addition to the family is that you get to see many of your family and friends. Jeremy, Cora and I have had visitors everyday since she was born. It has been great. We’ve really enjoyed seeing so many of the people that we care about. Here are photos of the family…
This year, I decided to push the stroller and my dad came down to run, so we ended up running together. It was the very first 3G (generation) race! Cora slept most of the way…again, but woke up just before we all 3 crossed the finish line! I just spent a few minutes perusing the race photos and as it is pretty easy to spot a stroller as i quickly scroll across the page, I found 3 pictures taken of us around mile 4 1/2. Here’s one of them (they have watermarks across them because they are official photos)
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