Cho Mama's Out

It has been a rather eventful summer so far, hence the lack of blog posts.  I scored a screaming deal on the "Pass of All Passes" that is a season pass to both Seven Peaks water parks in the state but also gives you access to a lot of other things like Trafalga fun centers, sporting events, Tracy Aviary, etc.  They normally sell for $79.00 each, but I got them on a flash sale for $10.00/ ea.  I know, bargain of the century, right?  We've been to Seven Peaks twice so far and recently went to a Bees games.  It was Jameson's first sporting event.

Jameson is always wearing a bib because he is the spitting up-est, slobbering-est kid around.  He'll soak about 3 or 4 bibs a day and since I would rather change a bib then change his outfit he will probably be sporting the bib look for awhile.  He is definitely a social guy.  His favorite thing to do is to smile at all of the people around us and wait for their reactions.  When they start smiling back and talking to him he pulls out all of the stops and squeals and bounces up and down.  Anyone who will stop and talk to him will be rewarded with plenty of smiles and squeals.  I couldn't get a great picture of him at the game because he would smile really big and then throw his head back.  By the time my camera finally took the pictures this was all I was able to get.

On June 15th and 16th I made my 5th and final appearance as a "Cho Mama" in the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay.

It's been a great run (pun intended) but we have decided to retire the team and not register for next year's race.  I've had nagging leg injuries that I just can't seem to shake and this year I definitely saw the writing on the wall, it was time for me to retire.  In fact, I wondered how I was even going to get through this year's race.  As the team captain I gave myself the leg with the least amount of total miles and did a lot of cross training in preparation.  My strategy was to just be in great shape generally without running and then just pound out the miles on the day of the race.  I did the Rip:60 program which gets your core and muscles super strong and spent a lot of time on my spin bike at home.  As far as running I averaged only 4 miles a week in the months leading up to the race.  I had no idea what to expect on race day as my legs had been bothering me the entire week.  I had projected a nice and slow 10 min/ mile pace for my legs, but once I started running and there were a lot of people to pass the competitive side of me came out and I ran each mile a full 2 minutes faster than projected.

Ironically I felt better during this Wasatch Back then I have ever felt.  My legs held up and I wasn't even very sore afterwards. I had enough in the tank at the end to take part of a teammates last leg since she had injuries that were acting up.  Run an extra mile uphill? No problem. There is just something about the Wasatch Back-- it's super challenging but incredibly fun and very addictive. It takes a solitary sport and makes it into a team effort.  Knowing it was my last allowed me to just enjoy the craziness of it all. (Adam says he will believe my "retirement" when he sees it.  He knows how addictive this event is)  I was in Van #2 with these Cho Mamas:

Do you think you could pick us out of a crowd??

We had such a great time.  From beginning to end it was a fabulous race!