One-legged cycling drills

I learned to ride a bike when I was perhaps 7 or 8. So let's call it 40 years now that I've known how to ride a bike.

It took until today to learn how badly I suck at pedaling.

Lots of coaches recommend one-legged pedaling drills to improve efficiency. A few different people have recommended them to me - like Yurtie, and the trainer who did Kona that I rode with for a few miles out on the road who noticed how I was pedaling all stupid and pointy-toed. She unclipped one foot and demonstrated how smooth and easy it should be, then switched feet and demonstrated with the other foot. Never missing a beat, while going easily at about 16 mph.

I tried it on the road by myself when there were no cars around and nobody was watching. I was riding along and unclipped one foot and held it out to the side. Then I proceeded to lose all control and nearly fall down in the middle of the road.

I abandoned that idea until my next trainer ride, which I have cleverly been able to successfully postpone until today.

I started with five minutes warmup. Then I unclipped one foot and pedaled with the other by itself. Fortunately the bike trainer prevented me from falling over. But I was definitely "pedaling squares". It felt clumsy and awkward and as if I had never pedaled a bike in my life. Worst of all, it was *really* tiring. I lasted about one minute.

Then I tried it on the other leg. Not surprisingly, with similar results. Also very tiring.

I repeated the sequence once. That was enough.

A few weeks ago I saw one guy with a bum leg pedaling around easily on a bike with a pedal on one side and a little platform on the other side for his bad foot. I noted it, thought it was interesting, but I was not nearly as impressed by it as I am today, in retrospect.

I sure am glad I have two relatively good legs, so I can hide most of my inability to pedal in a circle. I won't make the mistake of doing that one-legged stuff again.

At least not where anybody can see it.

Katrina's ongoing effects

From a post on the WWLTV discussion boards:

"They interviewed a man in DC that said he used to live in New Orleans.. I think he put it best.. He said "The country needs to understand that a MAJOR US city is in ruins.. Over a million people are without homes, without jobs, without ANYTHING".. I can't believe no one else is emphasizing this fact!! Also, last year in Florida there were FOUR hurricanes in a short span.. In all that time only 5 relief teams went in.. There are FORTY in the city of New Orleans.. The gov't has moved FOUR Navy ships to the area to help with rescue and medical needs and has more forces on standby.. Why don't people understand the gravity of this situation?!? Also, I think it needs to be said that some sort of relief and aid efforts MUST be promoted nationwide.. We spend MILLIONS of dollars on other countries, yet people in Jefferson parish have no water?? This is ridiculous!!"

Here again are those links to relief organizations. Please be generous:
Page of relief organizations
Red Cross

Katrina's spinoff effects

We're all going to experience some repercussions from Hurricane Katrina, though they will be miniscule effects compared to the folks directly in the path of the storm.

Gas prices are forecast to rise by as much as $1.10 per gallon by this weekend. We're filling our tanks now.

My husband may have to go to Denmark for a week to cover some duties that would normally be handled by some employees from a branch of his company located on the Gulf Coast. That may mean I will be on the bike trainer more than usual, will be doing a lot of jogstroller walks, can't go to the pool, and I may have to DNS the St. Michaels Century ride on September 10th.

A little interruption in my training and a little heavier burden at the gas pump seems a very small price to pay. On some of my email lists we still have no word from some of the members in Mississippi and Louisiana - hopefully it's only due to power outages. I think I'll postpone setting my numerical September goals until our personal situation becomes a little more clear.

Hearing the details of disasters like this does add a little grounding to the importance of physical training, though. Would I have the strength to hold onto a tree all night, battered by waves and hurricane-force winds, the way some survivors did? Would I be able to swim to safety from a flooded building? Would I be fit enough to walk down 75 flights of stairs to get out of the World Trade Center in time? Would I have the stamina to carry my children to safety? Physical fitness is NOT trivial in those situations. There were times in my life, not so long ago, when I was heading in the direction of NOT being able to do those things. Hopefully I'm headed in a more positive direction now.

Geezerjock performance standards

The Summer National Senior Games will be held in June and July of 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky. I turn 50 on June 23rd of that year, when the Games are underway, so I may not qualify until the following games (possibly depending on which state I qualify in).

That technicality aside, I've got a little less than two years to train to meet the qualifying standards for 50-year-old women. Let's take a look at the standards in place in 2005 for some selected events:


Track & Field/Running:
100m: 17.40
200m: 35.70
400m: 1:30.70
800m: 3:31.50
1500m: 7:00.00
5K road race: 25:08 (2005 winner: 21:07)
10K road race: 55:00 (2005 winner: 47:03)

Swimming:
50 yd freestyle: 38.20
100 yd freestyle: 1:30.10
200 yd freestyle: 2:46.10
500 yd freestyle: 8:53.40
50 yd breaststroke: 49.50
100 yd breaststroke: 1:54.60
200 yd breaststroke: 4:03.50

They also have cycling competitions (5k, 10k, 20k, and 40k) and a sprint triathlon (400m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) that don't appear to have published performance standards. Here are the 50-54 year old female division winner's times:

5k cycle: 8:13.1
10k cycle: 18:20.8
20k cycle: 36:06.9
40k cycle: 1:13:10.8
Sprint tri: 1:06:51

I'm a long way from any of those times. I guess I have my work cut out for me, eh? It's nice to have benchmarks to shoot for, though!

End of month summary

This all seems trivial after watching the life-and-death drama going on in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, but ... well, one of the important reasons I work out is to better prepare my body to handle emergencies. So there's a link.

I had an *outstanding* workout this morning - 3 miles on the treadmill and 2100 meters in the pool, and it all felt relaxed and easy (except for the complaining my arthritic ankle did for the first mile on the treadmill, then thankfully it shut up). It feels so virtuous to be stepping on the treadmill at 6AM, and to be all done with the workout and showered up by 8:30AM. :-)

I probably won't do much tomorrow on the last day of the month, maybe a half an hour on the bike trainer and some crunches. So it's time to look at my totals for the month again, and contrast them with the goals I set at the beginning of the month.

1. Swim 3520 yards (2 miles) just for practice: Swam 9078 yards (5.1 miles). Blew that goal absolutely out of the water. 257% of goal. A+.
2. Cycle 80 miles: rode 119 miles. 148% of goal. A+.
3. Run 80 miles: ran/walked 77 miles. 96% of goal. A.
4. Other training, complete 1000 crunches: 1100 crunches. 110% of goal. A+.
5. Events, complete 1 ten mile road race: Did that, at a pace over 1 minute per mile better than my last 3 runs in the same race. I'll call that an A, just because I'd still like to have a faster finishing time than I actually did.

August grade: A+!!!

The goals that I set were fairly modest, which was important after a few months of not hitting my goals. The bottom line is that I did a great job of meeting my goals for August, my consistency was excellent, I did some very solid cross-training, and I just need to set somewhat more demanding mileage/yardage goals for September. I'll give that a day or two of thought.

Three new things that have helped me train this month:

1. Slightly milder weather than July, for the most part.
2. Setting out my weekly workout plans and accomplishments in the right-hand column on this blog. Making it public keeps me accountable.
3. The advice, encouragement, and wisdom of my friend Simon Hayes, aka "Yurtie", a TRI-DRS member in Australia who, when I was dithering about the Ironman Florida decision, stepped forward and volunteered to coach me online and set up workout plans for the last six weeks and the weeks leading up to the IMFL decision date. Yurtie just plain rocks. He's been a great help in showing me the way to prove it to myself (or not) whether I can do the training it will take to finish an ironman triathlon next year. This month's results certainly make it look much more promising than it did one short month ago. Thank you, Yurtie, and good luck in the Sydney Marathon on September 11!

Hurricane Katrina aftermath

I've been watching the devastation on CNN this morning. Incredible.

Please join me in making a donation to the Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund to help victims of this catastrophe.

Or any other relief organization - here's a whole page of them. (Thanks for the link, Bunnygirl).

For those interested in Katrina news updates, there's a local news feed here:
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

Energy gels

2 questions for my readers:

1) Does anyone mix up their own gels? I was just thinking about mixing up my own carbohydrate concentrate, since I can't seem to find one I really like. Read http://www.cptips.com/gelown.htm for some ideas on this topic. I'd like to mix up a thick slurry that I can swig out of the gel flask and combine with water from the water stops, either on the bike or on the run, and get the energy I need, supplemented with electrolyte capsules. There's a few recipes online here, too.

2) Is there a commercial gel - any brand, any flavor - out there that really tastes GOOD to anyone when they're working hard and hot and sweaty? I've run through several of them on the market - Powergels, Clif Shots, Hammergels, CarbBooms, etc., and they all taste like warm crap to me when I'm hot. I take them because I know I need them and feel better if I keep my nutrition up, but I really have to choke them down when they start tasting bad.

Recommendations I've gotten so far (I'll keep a list here as I receive them):

• GU chocolate
• GU plain (Linae says it 'sucks the least')
• Hammergel apple cinnamon
• Hammergel(?) vanilla
• eGels
• Hammergels
• Cytosport Gulp 'n' Go vanilla
• Another vote for eGels (I think I need a polling feature).

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Here's a table of nutrient composition of various gels (thanks Phil!).

Congratulations to IMC finishers!

Congratulations to TRI-DRS member Katherine Hobson on her phenomenal 11:46 finish at Ironman Canada yesterday, and to all the other 2049 Ironmen and Ironwomen who came across that finish line! Well done!

It had the largest one-wave start in Ironman history, and over 30% of competitors were female. It was a tough day for many, with an 8.6% DNF rate.

Many thanks to IronAyla for sharing her great photos of Penticton and the Ironman competition with us.

Run Nancy Run!

Wow!

When I left the house it was a torrential downpour. When 3900 of us (or so) gathered for the start of the Annapolis Ten Miler next to Navy-Marine Corps Stadium, it sprinkled on us. Then not a drop for the entire race! We were lucky indeed! So while the humidity was maxed out, the temperature was much cooler than usual for this race, which helped a lot.

I ran well! Started sensibly with the first three (mostly downhill) miles in the 11 mpm range, then slowed once I hit those wicked hills as I anticipated. One Carb-Boom and a Succeed cap just after the 3 mile mark, and another dose of both just after the 6 mile mark, and I stayed well-hydrated at the frequent water stops along the way. I didn't care for the taste of the two Carb-Booms that I tried (orange-vanilla and apple cinnamon) but at least they didn't make me gag.

I worked hard for a finish time (on my watch) of 2:01:24. How hard? My average heart rate for the entire race was 175 beats/minute. I glimpsed a reading of 181 on the heart rate meter on the final cruelly steep uphill toward the finish line, even though I was trying my best not to look at it then. :-) (So much for the old "220 minus your age" for maximum heart rate estimation - that yields only 172 for me!)

That's my 2nd fastest ten miler, and more than a minute per mile better than my three previous outings in this race! Yay!! I think I could have gone a little faster if my legs were fresh, but my old hamstrings still felt a bit stiff from the 30 miles on the bike 2 days ago. But just like that day, what a difference 10 degrees makes! So I'll count that as a pretty darned good training weekend and take a full rest day again tomorrow. Ahhhhh!!!!!

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Hmmm. I just noticed that there were only 3867 finishers - and yet entries were capped at 5000. Wow, over 22% no-shows and non-finishers!?!? Amazing.

Annapolis Ten Miler Packet Pickup

I went to packet pickup today for tomorrow's Annapolis Ten Miler. This is an awesome race with which I have a long-term love-hate relationship.

It's VERY hilly and usually VERY hot. It lures you in, chews you up quite thoroughly, and spits you out. It would be a challenging course for October or November, but it's held in the dog days of August - so relentless heat, humidity, and sun are big factors. Add on 1 to 2 minutes per mile to your usual ten miler pace and lots of blood, sweat, and tears and you have the Annapolis Ten Miler.

I've run it three times now. It used to have a lovely route through the United States Naval Academy, but since 9/11 it's been routed around it for security reasons.

One of the big lures of this event is phenomenal schwag, and this year is no exception. We received a very well-made wind vest with an embroidered logo at packet pickup. I was delighted to see when I picked it up that the back is mesh and it includes pockets along the rear side edge, like a cycling jersey. This is going to be a perfect foul weather cycling vest! I'll wear it a lot.

Other years I got a polo shirt and a pair of warmup pants. Nice stuff that gets a lot of wear from the happy recipients! Last year I also got a hand towel with the race logo embroidered on it that they gave out after the race. This year the finishers' premium is an acrylic sailboat.

The course is deceptively difficult. I'm pretty sure that negative splits are impossible on this course. Tomorrow we'll start at Navy Stadium and the first mile just takes you on a loop around the stadium parking lots. That's your warmup, enjoy the horizontal surface because that's the last you'll see of it.

Then the course heads down toward the old section of town. Take the roundabout around the Maryland state capitol, then head down the old cobbled main street. Literally down, because there's a fairly steep slope down to the harbor. Take advantage of it and pick up some time here. We'll need it later on.

Swing past the harbor and Ego Alley where the big yachts come in, past the statue of Alex Haley reading to children and the plaque noting that the auction of the famous Kunta Kinte was held near there.

Then swing over by the Naval Academy gate and begin climbing up that hill you just came down. Take some water from the Naval Academy midshipmen and thank them for their enthusiastic support. Take a right at the top and you'll be heading straight up the old Severn River Bridge. It seems to go on forever and it's impossibly steep - don't forget that it's tall enough for sailboats to go clear under it! Enjoy the climb, because you're doing it again soon.

Down the other side of the bridge, almost to sea level, and then take a right and you're heading back up a steep hill into residential neighborhoods in the cliffs looking over the Severn. Up and down and up and down and winding around through this neighborhood you go. Fortunately there's good support from the local residents and they'll be out cheering you on.

Finally you have a long steep haul back down the hill, and another tough shadeless climb over the old Severn River Bridge again. If the temperature is high (and it always is) you'll be scorched on this treeless stretch and working hard over the bridge. Lots of folks will be walking. But after you clear it you've only got only one mile to go - but it seems like the longest on the course. I'll be one of the stragglers at this point and the aid stations will be starting to clean up.

Keep trudging through a zig-zag, and finally you'll see the stadium up ahead. But the course has one last bit of nastiness to leave you with - you have to go all the way around the backside of the stadium, where you're presented with a horribly steep climb to get to the finish line.

Cross the line, congratulate yourself, and pick up your finisher's sailboat. Enjoy your trophy and display it proudly. You've completed one of the toughest ten mile road races in the country!

Fortunately this is a "C" race for me this year - just a 10 mile workout as I gear up for marathon season ahead. I'll use this race to test my longer distance endurance, try out a new running shirt I got at the expo today, and test some new flavors of Carb-Boom gel to see how my stomach likes them during races. My three times (on the two slightly different courses) have all been between 2:11 and 2:14. I'd like to beat those, and tomorrow promises to have the coolest temperatures of my four attempts, but also with the possibility of showers. Let's just get out there and run the best race we can!

DVD recommendations?

Thinking ahead, I'm starting to assemble some DVDs for bike trainer rides when the weather turns bad this fall. I want to head off that tired old "It's too boring" excuse. I don't want to lose the performance gains I've made this year over the winter.

* Ironman DVDs - http://www.ironmandvd.com/ironmandvds.html
Do you recommend any particularly inspiring years??

* Spinervals DVDs - http://www.spinervals.com/
Any that you found especially helpful and motivating?

Others?

My two biggest movie recommendations for the trainer right now are:
Running On The Sun (2000)
Chariots of Fire (1981)

I may also order the Overcoming DVD about the CSC professional cycling team, of which I'm a fan.

Others? Thanks in advance for your recommendations! I'll compile a list when I get a few together!

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Recommendations received (I'll keep a list here):

Overcoming - link to order inside USA

Ironman 1995: Karen Smyers victory, PNF collapse, Mark Allen comeback
Ironman 1997: Bob Jordan tearjerker
Ironman 1999: The Hoyt's journey

Movies:
Breaking Away
American Flyer
Pre
Miracle
Hoosiers
Rudy
Remember the Titans

T2 sunblock for speedy application

Here's a great product for spraying on the sunblock in transitions in a big hurry, if you haven't seen it before: waterproof, sweatproof SPF 30 sunblock in a pressurized spray. I like to use it on my daughters, since it goes on very quickly while they're squirming around getting excited about going outside.

I also like SPF 36 Bullfrog in the pump spray, but it takes a little longer to get on. And after a while I my finger gets tired from pumping it.

Your skin will thank you. (Just ask Oldman and Holly).

What a difference!

Wow! what a difference 10 degrees makes! Today's bike ride - in only 80*F - was wonderful!! Plus very little wind helped, too.

Here's my route around the Bay Hundred peninsula, from St. Michaels to McDaniels and Claiborne, then to the bridge to Tilghman Island and back. 30 miles, with some nice glimpses of the Chesapeake Bay along the way. Flat and fast on wide shoulders.

I made an all-time high average speed for a longer ride: 17.2 miles per hour! On fire! With an average heart rate of 145 bpm. That's a massive improvement for me! I only made 16.2 mph in my last race on July 31st. Perhaps it helped that I paced myself most of the way with my watch timer: 5 minutes riding hard down in the aerobars, then 1 minute for sitting up briefly or standing, stretching, and taking a drink of water. That worked well to keep me fresh and my back lasted a lot longer before it started complaining.

I know I can get faster - more time in the saddle is the key! Finally I'm getting to the point where my creaky old body - including my crotch, which gave me discomfort for months and months, is finally getting used to the job I'm asking it to do and I'm riding strong!

Or is it that I'm finally getting Buttercup trained!?

Happy swimmer

I've turned on word verification for comments because I loathe comment spam. I'm sorry they've ruined it for the rest of us. :-( I also loathe cowardly commenters who use the cloak of anonymity to leave nasty personal remarks and other filthy evidence of their vile personalities while lacking the courage to claim their own words. That goes double for quasi-anonymous folks, who have gone to all the trouble of signing up for a blogger account yet put no other information about themselves on the site, with the sole objective of spewing rudeness and ugliness in their derogatory comments. You know who you are. "Uh, tell us how you really feel, Nance." But anyway....

For my *nicer* readers, here's one of the happiest little bears you're ever likely to see. I wish I looked that happy when I swim! I think I probably look just about that plump.

Great IMMOO tool

For those of you doing Ironman Wisconsin on September 11, 2005; or contemplating it for another year, there's a fabulous online tool for calculating all your split times. I haven't seen anything like it for other race locations.

Swimming stats o' the day

My swimming has a long way to go. But it's coming along. Today was just a run-of-the-mill lap swim day, 1250m. Just for fun I counted strokes (and timed it) for 100m of breaststroke and 100m of freestyle, just so that I can track it in my training log as I (hopefully) improve. I was not pushing it, just swimming at my normal lap swim pace that I feel I can maintain over a distance.

Here's my data, just for the record, alongside some data from elite female swimmers, 13-14 years old, during 100m races. It's not a valid direct comparison, certainly, but it's the first such swim stroke data I could find in a quick net search.

Breaststroke speed (meters/sec) : Elite: 1.27 Me: 0.54 (42%)
Breaststroke speed (sec/100 m) : Elite: 78.7 Me: 183 (43%)
Breaststroke stroke length (meters/stroke) : Elite: 1.61 Me: 1.04 (64%)
Breaststroke stroke frequency (strokes/sec) : Elite: 0.79 Me: 0.52 (65%)
Breaststroke, strokes per 25 m: Elite: 15.5 Me: 24.0

Freestyle speed (meters/sec) : Elite: 1.59 Me: 0.54 (33%)
Freestyle speed (sec/100 m) : Elite: 62.8 Me: 185 (35%)
Freestyle stroke length (meters/stroke cycle) : Elite: 1.90 Me: 1.31 (68%)
Freestyle stroke frequency (stroke cycles/sec) : Elite: 0.84 Me: 0.54 (64%)
Freestyle, stroke cycles per 25 m: Elite: 13.1 Me: 19.0

What does this tell me?
* Not that I don't compare well to the elites. That's obvious - I'm about 1/3 as fast! It's not my objective to challenge the elites, that's laughable! Besides, I wasn't even RACING. ;-) I was in a 25m pool and I don't even know how to do flip turns. Yet.
* My objective is to see how my own performance improves gradually over time, and the numbers hopefully move in the right direction, as I repeat this little test periodically in the future as my swimming improves. Today's test gives me baseline data.
* My breaststroke is comparatively better than my freestyle. They were approximately the same speed today.
* Both my distance per stroke and stroke frequency should increase in order to get faster, over time. (Although most experts say work on the technique first to enhance efficiency, then work on stroke frequency and power later).
* I'd like to find some better comparative data, say, for example, female masters swimmers. If you have those numbers for stroke frequency and stroke length, please send them my way! (Like this study, showing that world record times for older female masters swimmers for 1500 m are in the 25-minute range, and anything under 30 minutes is pretty darned fast).

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Here's some more swimming data I was just referred to in another great source: the 2000 women's US Olympic Trials (thanks, Jill!):

Breaststroke, 200m, speed (meters/sec) : Elite: 1.22 - 1.34
Breaststroke, 200m, speed (sec/100 m) : Elite: 74.6 - 81.9
Breaststroke, 200m, stroke length (meters/stroke) : Elite: 1.61 - 2.01
Breaststroke, 200m, stroke frequency (strokes/sec) : Elite: 0.665 - 0.770
Breaststroke, 200m, strokes per 25 m: Elite: 12.4 - 15.5

Freestyle, 800m, speed (meters/sec) : Elite: 1.58 - 1.74
Freestyle, 800m, speed (sec/100 m) : Elite: 57.4 - 63.2
Freestyle, 800m, stroke length (meters/stroke cycle) : Elite: 1.70 - 2.22
Freestyle, 800m, stroke frequency (stroke cycles/sec) : Elite: 0.73 - 0.94
Freestyle, 800m, stroke cycles per 25 m: Elite: 11.2 - 14.7

That is just sick, isn't it? I mean, those Olympic freestylers could do a full lap in our 25m club pool in 29 seconds flat. And those aren't even the sprinters.

Evidence found

I found it. Conclusive evidence of Shelley's nefarious activities. Right over there on her blog for the whole world to see.

I sure hope that syringe is full of EPO. Because I may just need it.

Rant

I love the Tri-geek Kahuna's rant: Blog or else! Yep, if the blogs on my sidebar can only muster one or two posts for the entire summer, they're getting culled off my list. That's ridiculous! There are no vacations from fitness! Show me a triathlon blog with infrequent posts and I'll show you a blogger who isn't training.

Also, another blogging pet peeve: If you're going to stop by someone's blog, why not take a moment to LEAVE A COMMENT? It only takes a moment and it's a nice compliment to the blogger that their writings are having an impact out there for their readers. Blogs are meant to be more or less interactive - so COMMENT already!

It's Shelley's fault

I can't believe that Shelley talked me into this.


The Ford Ironman World Championship selects 200 athletes each year to participate through a lottery system. One hundred and fifty of the athletes will be selected from the United States applicants and fifty athletes will be selected from other countries. The Ford Ironman World Championship is one of the most in demand athletic events in the world. Qualifying gets more difficult each year, so the lottery is another option to enter the race.

This message is generated as confirmation of your recent registration on Active.com. You have been successfully registered for the following:
Registration: 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship Lottery
Purchase Date: 08/23/05
Team: United States
Category: Lottery Application
Event Date: 10/14/06
Name: NANCY TOBY

The 2006 Event will be held on October 14th in Kailua-Kona, HI. The lottery results will be posted on April 15th, 2006 at 12:00 pm EST on www.ironmanlive.com. Athletes who are SELECTED through the Ironman Lottery must have completed a Global Tri Group (GTG) endorsed event within one year of the 2006 Ford Ironman World Championship to validate his/her lottery slot. Lottery winners should plan on completing the validating race before August 31, 2006, and all validating information should be received in the Kona Race Office by August 31th, 2006. Failure to comply will result in forfeiture of the lottery slot.

Groceries

It's amazing how two 2-year-olds can turn a simple trip to the grocery store into an adventure fraught with unpredictability.

Let me say first that we're incredibly lucky to have Peapod grocery delivery by the Giant grocery stores in our area. I don't know what we would have done without it in the last couple of years. We're able to shop online and get all our groceries delivered within a two-hour window for a nominal charge. It's pure luxury. I honestly don't know how parents who have to take two or more little ones to the store simultaneously do it without going nuts. When we need to make an emergency run to the store, my husband or I have always done it while the other watches the girls. A couple of times we have taken Catherine, but not often.

But today we were out of milk, Steve wasn't here, and I was forced to take both girls with me to the store. Together. For the first time in their little lives both together, believe it or not!

Catherine threw a tantrum first getting into the minivan because she apparently thought we were going for a walk instead of driving somewhere. Wrong. But she settled down when we were underway.

At the store parking lot I got a cart and I strapped Catherine in the seat and put Elisabeth in the basket. Elisabeth remained seated quietly the whole time in the bottom of the basket like a little angel, just taking it all in silently! What a good girl!

As I was going in, I passed a woman exiting with a cart overflowing with 87 bags of groceries, two tiny girls traipsing alongside, and a baby in the cart seat. It put things in perspective for me really quickly.

Inside the store the girls seemed overwhelmed and were as good as gold! I was not expecting that! I asked Catherine if she wanted one of her favorites, watermelon, or "wa-muh", and she was happy to help me pick out a slice.

We went through the aisles and I piled up the groceries around Elisabeth in the cart. The only little problem was when she tried to open the little carton of fresh mozzarella swimming in water. I didn't think that was a good idea, but some rearranging solved it.

Otherwise they were quiet and happy the whole time! *shocked disbelief*

The only time Catherine was unhappy was when I took the watermelon out of the cart and put it on the checkout stand. I think that she thought I was giving HER watermelon away to the cashier.

One of the older checkout ladies started asking Elisabeth, "Will you give me your curls?" I thought that was a little creepy. But fortunately we were all done shopping without incident and I was able to pack up my groceries and hustle my girls out and take everything back home again.

This was definitely a lucky break today. I know I'll have to pay double for this one some time in the future. Just wait until they learn to wheedle for me to buy them things....