Two Wheels!

This week was a momentous occasion for Eli--he learned to ride a bike without training wheels. We have been pretty slow about teaching him. Nowadays it seems like most kids are riding bikes when they're two and take the training wheels off by the time they're four. We live at the bottom of a steep hill, so in order to practice riding much we had to leave the house. While I was pregnant and while Asher was still pretty little, trudging up the road for Eli and Brandt to ride just didn't happen often enough to give Eli the chance to really get good. But, this week we started going up so he and Brandt could play with all the neighborhood kids who ride bikes, swing, and jump on the trampoline at a central house after school. Well, seeing a bunch of kindergarten and first grade kids riding their bikes seemed to fuel Eli to really work at riding. He got better each day we went, and today he took off one training wheel and didn't use the other at all!! We went to my parents' house and got a bigger bike for him to start with next week; as you can see from the picture, he has outgrown his bike. Now it will be Brandt's turn to learn!

My workouts: Yesterday, I rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes. I also did 3 sets of 20 push ups, some chair dips, and some pull-ups out on the playground. Today I ran 11.3 miles. I just "mapped my run" on google maps (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1815070). It took me about 1: 32 minutes--an 8:08 avg. I felt really good for the last 4 miles or so--I'm pretty certain I ran negative splits.

For the team's practice, we did a 1 lap warm-up and then stretched. Then I had them do two 200's and really concentrate on leaning forward and running on their toes. Some of the runners' stances are flat-footed and very upright, which is holding them back some in their sprints. Then they ran a 400. We worked on jumping and throwing for a while at the end. I only had 4 athletes out there today. I sometimes feel like the fact that participation in this was free makes coming to practice not as high on people's priority list as I'd hope it would be. I know when I have paid for my kids to be in something, I do whatever I can for them not to miss so I don't feel like my money has been wasted. Oh well...those who were there had a great workout. And they seemed much more comfortable with the heavy shot-put than I've seen them yet. AND...drumroll....Brandt actually did the whole practice!! He participated better than ever! The main reason I started this team was for my own children to have this opportunity (which Eric continuously reminds me when I have negative thoughts), so if no one else comes at all, at least my own children are getting out and running, jumping, and throwing.
This pic is a candid one of the boys relaxing tonight watching some Magic Schoolbus. We loved how Brandt scootched up next to Eli on the couch.