Sled Hockey with Nathan

Sue and the kids came down for the weekend. Nathan had a hockey game in MD and then one right here in Arlington.  They spent one night with us and then we met them in Arlington to watch Nathan play hockey.

It was very cool, it's been about 10 years since we've seen him play.  

This was the first game he got to play with his newly earned white helmet.  Now that he has been selected for the National Developmental Team he gets to wear the white helmet with the USA flag.  He was one of only 2 kids on the developmental team and 2 national team members playing.

Sled Hockey is such and amazing sport.  The coordination and talent it takes to propel yourself around on the sled and still be able to get the puck, shoot and score is crazy.

It was great to see the kids and watch Nathan play.  Just think one day, we will probably get to see Nathan in the Olympics - I sure hope it's somewhere nice!!

Limited Workout energy available

I alternate between drinking...

John and I have decided there is only so much Workout energy/mojo in the Hyzy house which means that only one of us can be working out at a time. :o)  I've been going strong for the last few weeks, even lost a couple of pounds, but I just hit a wall and haven't done anything for the last week.  Tryout week is brutal and even though I know I feel much better when I work out, sometimes it's just too much.  But while I was sitting on my ass,  John was working out and running.  I seem to be able to go strong and motivated for about 3 weeks and then, I fade away for a week or so.   I just need to keep reminding myself that I feel so much better when I've gotten my workout in.  It's so freaking hard to remember that at 430am when I need to get up and go.  The seduction of a nice warm bed and sleep is so hard to resist!  One day at a time...

And trying to work out!

Tryouts 2016

Well they are in the bag, the team is set!!   They actually went pretty well.  Monday was a decent day so we were able to get the outdoor run done for the whole team and then the pressure was off.  We definitely didn't want them to have to run inside.    I am so freaking proud of my girls!!!  Almost every single one of them improved their times and a couple dropped almost 2 minutes!!  I think there were only a handful that didn't make the 9:00min mark!!  So excited for them!

The 4K went pretty well as well and the rest of the stuff was easy peasy anyway.  We ended up choosing the girl team on Tuesday and the boys finished up on Weds.

John kept all the varsity girls, there were only 11 of them anyway.  I ended up cutting one Freshman girl.  She'd come late to winter conditioning and really just couldn't keep up.  She failed all the tryout criteria and in my opinion just wasn't ready for the intensity required.  John is going to pull one of my novices up so that he has enough girls for an 8 and a 4, which leaves me with exactly 18 girls.  I'm a little worried that I'm running exactly even, no extras.  If anyone quits on me or gets sick or injured, then I'm screwed. But, there's not much choice.  I'm excited/nervous/thrilled/terrified that I have 2 8's worth of girls.  For a good long time, I thought I'd only have one 8 which while much easier to coach, isn't as good for the program.  Now that I have 2 8's it's great for the program, but I'm very nervous about taking out 2 8's.  Once they are up and rowing, it will be great because they can race each other and push each other, but until they can row... I'm worried about 2 8's crashing into each other, the shore, other boats etc....  Girls team is 33.

The boys team is set now as well.  Zack, of course, did just fine.  They ended up cutting 3 returning rowers, but kept all the novices and are 50 strong.  We're all running exactly even, so it will be exciting/nerve wracking to see how the season sets up.  Please let us have a bunch of dedicated, hardworking kids, who never miss practice!

Settling back in...and...Gold's Gym Erg Sprints

Things are getting back to normal. Dreams of Hawaii are fading away, back to work, practice, sleep, work, practice, sleep.  I'm back on the Healthy Train and it seems to be going pretty well.  I haven't yet been back to spin class... but I'm heading there soon, plenty of erging, a little bit of running.  

Gold's Gym Erg Sprints were this weekend.  We had about 40 kids participate.  It was a great day.  Lots of successful rowers, a couple 1st's including freshman boys, lots of 2nd's and 3rd's.  I had about 6 novice girls participate.  None did very well as far as medals, but I was very proud of them for participating, and doing their very best!  I think they were pretty proud of themselves.  Zack's mixed relay came in 2nd. And we retained out Mother/Son relay champion medals!

Last Erg Sprints for these boys!

My Novice girls!

Woodbridge Erg Sprints Team 2016

Mixed Relay - 2nd place

Team Hyzy - 2nd year in a row!

Parent/Child Relay Team winners!

It was a great day.  Exhausting, but so much fun.  Then the coaches went out for margaritas afterwards, that was even more fun.  Geez, I haven't laughed that much in ages!  Spent part of the night drunk texting Brenna and trying to get her and Tim hooked up!  Really more like buzz texting, I only had 2 margaritas so it wasn't really drunk texting.  It was a hoot!

Back at home, back to reality

As predicted the flight home was pretty wretched.  I don't know why I can't sleep on planes anymore, but I think I literally got about 30 minutes of sleep.  When we got home I was completely wiped out, said hello to the pups and collapsed in bed for about 3 hours!!  I didn't even unpack, that's how tired I was.  I'm only just now starting to feel back to normal.  Everything is unpacked, mounds of laundry are waiting to be washed, I spent a horrendous amount of money at the commissary today so we have food to eat and I'm trying to catch up on my emails and crew business.  John and I are starting up Operation Healthy Train... a week of eating whatever we wanted and only minimal working out has taken it's toll... I guess it's back to reality!

Hawaii - Day Five - last day

We fly out tonight at 640pm and then land at 1100am tomorrow morning.  It's going to be long and painful!!  We tried to upgrade to first class, but they were all sold out!  We did hit the beach this morning.  John got to do a little boogie boarding, I sat in a chair and totally burned the shit out of my legs.  I put sunscreen on my shoulders, face, chest and back, but I never really think about my legs.  STUPID!  They are pretty damn burned and sore!  A little Advil and hopefully I'll be okay.

Finished up our shopping and headed back to the hotel for a shower and a final drink on the beach.  This has been just about the perfect vacation.  The perfect combination of busy days and relaxing days.  We've had perfect weather, beautiful scenery and lots of good food.  I am ready to get back to my house, my puppies, Zack and my stuff, but this has been a nice interlude and a great way to celebrate our anniversary!

Hawaii Day Four

Another really great day.  Although 4:00am is still EARLY!!!  Hopped on a plane and headed over to the Big Island of Hawaii.  First thing we did was an amazing black sand beach.  What I didn't realize was that the black sand also has beautiful little green bits of peridot in it as well.

We saw sea turtles, a whale and other potential husband candidates, this is truly the land of the man bun, for Brenna.  Then we headed to a waterfall park, that while the waterfall was nice it was no Niagra falls! :o)  I definitely give it bonus points for the surrounding scenery though.

What was truly amazing and possible my favorite part of the trip so far as this extraordinary Banyan tree.  Over 250 years old.  The Banyans are amazing things, they have these aerial roots that once they hit the ground they begin a new tree.  So this tree, was the most enormous thing I've ever seen.   So many roots that it made a complete circle, so when you stood in the center of it, it was awe-inspiring.  I found it to be a very spiritual thing.  I wish there had been some way to take a picture that could capture how amazing it was. 

Then we headed to the Volcanos National Park.  

Sadly, you don't get to see the actual lava, it's too dangerous to get close because of the poisonous gases...whatever... but you can see all the resulting steam that comes out of the vents, which is still pretty cool.

Crater

Lava tube

The lava fields are pretty impressive as well.  It's amazing how light the rocks are.

This is a tree impression.. I think it was the Ohia tree that is so strong the lava will flow around it and it stays intact and makes these impressions.

Nature always finds a way.  Solid lava fields and things still find a way to grow.  Pretty amazing.

You can sort of see how the lava flowed down the hill.

These are the lava tubes that let the lava flow out into the ocean.  The land that we're standing on is brand new land, created as the lava flowed down and cooled.  We stayed until it got dark and were able to see the glow of the lava as the sun went down.  I wish I could think of some different adjectives besides awesome and amazing.  But those seem to fit the best.

Flew home late at night, landed exhausted and ready for bed!  Sadly, tomorrow we leave, but not until late in the afternoon, so we're planning on hitting the beach and finishing up our shopping.  I had hoped to be able to say that I actually came to Hawaii and never put a bathing suit on!  But, it looks like John would like to boogie board, so I'll throw a bathing suit on and see what happens. 

P.S.  Happy 25th anniversary.  A pretty great way to celebrate!

Hawaii Day Three

Really good day today!!  We got up had a really nice breakfast in the hotel.  Then we got a cab and went up to Diamond Head State Park.

It was supposed to be a pretty strenuous hike, but while there were a couple steep stairs to navigate it really wasn't so difficult.  There were quite a few people, so there was plenty of time to rest.  It was a beautiful day and really quite enjoyable.

View of the crater as you hiked up.

The views really were stunning at the top, you could see almost 360 degrees around the island.  Well worth the time.  Afterwards we sat at the bottom and had a shaved ice and watched all the people for quite a while.  The best.  Afterwards we took a cab back to Waikiki beach to get some lunch and do some shopping.  Lots of souvenirs to buy...  John had his heart set on finding some fresh Poke for lunch.  It's fresh, raw Ahi tuna, I guess he read about it on line.

The good news is we got some banging souvenirs and John found his Poke.  I must admit, it was delicious despite all my doubts.  He was very happy, we found a lovely little park right in the middle of the shopping district to sit and eat.  Quite nice.

We finished out the evening with some tasty drinks at the beach side bar doing some more people watching.  A really good day!

Tomorrow - 4:40am pickup, headed to the Big Island for the day and volcanos!