houseofdixon.com

Not much of an update here except that I’ve got some photos of Cora dressed up in her little ducky costume as she prepared to go hang out with tiff at the community center…

This isn’t the normal kind of post found on the houseofdixon, but this one was too good to pass up. I had one of those “AH-HA” moments as I sat there watching this animated gif. I never knew exactly how a sewing machine works, and if this is truly correct, it is the single best description…ever… via SwissMiss.com

Keep staring as long as you like…i spent 5 minutes awestruck by the simplicity…

It took until just before I actually crossed the start line, but I decided to not go for any sort of finish time. Instead I wanted to have my first marathon that I actually enjoyed…and I did! How so, you ask? Well, I ran with a group of friends (my dad included in that group as well) for the first 5-6 miles, then I saw another friend (don) and we ran together and got a bit ahead of that group and actually caught up to another friend (mark). The three of us ran together until i decided to attempt a fall-back to see my dad before he would be cutting off for the half finish. That didn’t happen but shortly after the cut-off I noticed another person I knew standing alongside the road waiting by the portajohns…It was my cousin Caitlyn (waiting on her running partner). We ran together from around mile 14 to somewhere around 21, where I decided to make a restroom stop and then attempt a fall-back to find the original group. I then went past my aunt and uncle’s house where they and my grandma and others were cheering on the runners. In my desire to have a fun race, I proceeded to stop running and chat for a few minutes before taking off for the final 4-5 miles. Those next 2 miles or so were some of the best i’ve ever had that late in the race and the rest of the race was almost as equally enjoyable (still painful though). I never caught back up with the original group. In my last and final attempt to truly enjoy the race I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the finish line as I approached (downside is that the official race photographer caught me and my finish line picture is of me checking out something on my phone Also of note, they actually got a picture of me that makes me look like I’m running…doesn’t happen that often…

Anyway, tiff had a great comeback (from having a baby) race with a time of 3:15:48 and My finish time was slower than that…

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:

Here’s some other pics from the day!

 

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.

Tiffany has now won (1st overall female finisher or 1st prize due to eligibility) the last 4 races she has contested. The first was the Sole to Soul 5K at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, OH. She actually was beaten by a high schooler, but as OHSAA rules apply there can be no prizes awarded to HS athletes in their sport…long story, Tiff was awarded the first prize of a pair of shoes! Awesome! Next up…the Vermillion Triathlon where she was the actual first overall female, though she didn’t believe it at first. Then we have the Buckeye Challenge Triathlon in Springfield, OH where she again was the first overall female finisher. Finally, this past weekend, Tiffany was the female winner in the 1st ever Boy Scouts Half Marathon in Bowling Green, OH (hometown race!)

Now first let me say that this is absolutely incredible, one might argue it can be described as an epic comeback (having given birth to Cora merely 5 months ago) I would not dispute such an idea, as I am awestruck by her God-given abilities and the humility with which she accepts it. She is, in my opinion, a very talented athlete who succeeds in virtually any sport she attempts.

That said…

I was holding Cora as we were watching friend Monica finish the aforementioned half marathon, when two girls said hi and asked if i was the one pushing the jogging stroller for the race (tougher than it looks…really…sore hamstrings). One of the two said that they saw me as I passed by them towards the beginning of the race. Obviously it was meant as a compliment to me, of which I am grateful. My initial thought, however, was that, yes I may be faster than some, and one day maybe I may even win a race (big maybe)…but the thing that must not be overlooked is the simple fact that those two put their foot on that starting line, ran and finished a half marathon that morning the same as me or Tiff or that guy who won overall with a ridiculous 1:09 time (very fast in case you didn’t know…almost olympic level).

Being a finisher of any endurance event is an incredible thing and I don’t want to ever forget how much it means to just complete the race. For me, no more than 3 years ago, I could almost not even finish a mile run (knee problems), so I know what it means to simply not know if you can even finish. Sometimes I even wonder if those who do win lots of races even remember the simple joy in crossing the finish line…that my friends is the true shame. So know that if you have finished something that you didn’t think you could or would ever do, you’re a hero in my book…

p.s. I’m not dilluted enough to not have thought of the fact that I may be using this rationale to justify getting beat by my wife in almost every race I’ve ever done, but still… and again, I’m not taking away from Tiff’s accomplishments at all…

Here’s another gallery of photos from the Vermillion race weekend courtesy of brother-in-law Dave…

In the last two weeks Tiffany has competed in two races (5k and Sprint Tri) and won them both! The first race was the Sole to Soul 5K at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, OH (results here). With a time 19:54 Tiffany was the first female finisher (she did get beat by a high school runner, but there was a separate contest for them), and thus won a pair of shoes! The shoes were the main reason Tiff decided to run this race, and she is definitely glad she did!

The next race she did was the Vermillion Harbour Triathlon where she continued in the Wheelie Fun Triathlon Series 09. She had an absolutely killer bike averaging around 22mph, which is fantastic! As she crossed the finish line she hear the announcer say “First Female Now Crossing the Finish Line” and the first thought she had was something along the lines of…Yeah right, they must’ve gotten something wrong…but they hadn’t…and she did indeed win her first triathlon! Here’s the results page for both her race and mine.

Here are a couple of the photos I was able to find on the photos page (here’s a link to the main bulk of the photos…use password “hfpracing”)

We are currently getting ready for the Buckeye Challenge Triathlon in Springfield, OH where, for the first time this year, Tiff and I will be competing in the same race! I am calling it the “Battle Royale”. After Tiff’s showing at Vermillion, I am really getting afraid of getting crushed…but hey, I’m used to getting beat (in races) by my wife. Also of note, Tiff’s bro or Uncle Dale to Cora will be competing in the Half-Iron distance race as well, so we are excited to both see him and cheer him on in his race!

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!

A quick post here, but I’m happy to say that Tiff and I  finally did a bike race last night! We did a Time Trial with the Maumee Valley Wheelmen. It was a good first taste of cycling races, and we’re sure to do more. Anyway, the results are in and if you’ll click the following link, you can read all about it LINK