Spring?

It's the same drum beat at the Prest house hold. Never a dull moment. Today (Sunday 5/17) was a recovery day from the Maple Grove half marathon yesterday. I ran a St. Patty's Day race this year that was warmer. Cold wind and 30's for morning temps. Not ideal race weather. No rain or snow though?! It will make average feel outstanding. Janet and I, Erek and Laura Swenson, Steve and Mindy Bursh, Reggie Swenson, Sean Pease all took part in this freeze fest of running and we all finished. The girls are a little achier than the rest of us due to a lack of time for training but they were determined to finish and that they did. Us guys all had good finishes keeping healthy and getting ready for more important races. I was able to turn in a similar time as last year and took home my third race day metal.
One more "tune up" race at Buffalo's Olympic tri (6/7) and we will be in the final stretch to the big Pacific Crest Half Iron in Oregon. My training has been better than expected this year. Things have been jiving will with schedules for me to get important workouts in. That and some really early morning runs and bikes when nothing else works. This year I have had so many reminders of why I choose to race. For those struggling with cancer. Neighbors, friends, and too many new acquaintances I have been in contact with that are fighting for everything moment on this earth. I know that any encouragement is good encouragement to them so I push on letting them know that every mile training and racing I am praying and racing on their behalf.

Janet, Bijou and Armand are such a huge inspiration for me while I train and race. I dwell on them often now that trainings last 1-2 hours or more at times. Thinking about Janet and the incredible job she dose with the kids. Keeping the house in order with me and two little ones is no easy task. All while working four days a week. She is amazing. Little Bijou and her sponge of a brain. Singing and talking up a storm. She takes such great care of her special animals and dolls. What an amazing creation she is. And fast, she is going to be something. My little boy Armand. He has dad's crazy brain. He notices everything, processes and wants to dig right in to everything. Scary! He is starting to see that he can play on Bijou now too. What a hoot to see them two go back and fourth. I remember having a bigger brother and that was one of my favorite things to do when I was board, bug Adam. To see the chemistry between our two brings back warm memories of days gone by. How it reminds me to be a strong, wise father for them to look up to. They are a gift entrusted to us with endless potential. I so desire for them to be inspired by life and all the Joy that is all around us.And to top all the events of the year was last weekends ceremony at Crown College to watch my little sister graduate. We are so proud of her and her amazing dedication to not only to finish but finish well. A student athlete is more that a full time job. Now we hear a lot of complaining about how she needs to adjust to the real world. Soon perspective should set in and she will appreciate this great time of life. Coming out of school is not the easiest thing these days with the job market but there is nothing new under this sun. It will be what we make of it. Good luck sis and great job we are so proud!

Gods Work

A fitting title for a mothers day. I have been wanting to post so many things that I have experienced in the past two weeks. They will have to all roll into one.

The thing that has really stuck in my head lately is a couple that we did some work for last week. They are in the process of adopting their 9th child, each one being a special needs child. Their latest blessing will require 24hr nurse care and a more balanced home climate. What a gift they give, what a sacrifice their lives are. How is it that we define the word hero. In my book they are at the top of the list. Compare their sacrifice to mine and I have nothing to complain about....ever! The thing that really stuck with me was seeing a little shed in the back yard. I had to get something by it and happened to see what it was. The mom has all of her scrap booking stuff in the shed so she can make stuff for the kids to feel extra special. Their house is decorated with amazing pictures and things that she has made. On the door is a plaque that reads. "It is not about getting through the storm, Its learning to dance in the rain." Now that is perspective. That is living a Spirit Filled life. That is God's work lived through one persons life. What an inspiration.
Telling that story on this special mothers day 09 is fitting. It is because of a mothers love and personal sacrifice that gives us all so much joy. I have been so blessed to be raised by a loving self sacrificing mother and now to have married a beautiful woman that models the same love that Christ first gave us. What a blessing mom's are.

Action Packed

What a blessing it is to have things to do. This weekend certainly had no shortage of that. I had my first half marathon of the season at the Get in Gear half. Great weather and a well run race for the first of the year. As that was happening Janet had planned to get the house ready for our first open house Sat. afternoon at 2. Instead she ended up at urgent care with Armand. That turned out to be the thankful but frustrating brocitias "just let us know if it lasts more than one more week." Good but frustrating.
So we both got home with less than two hours to clean the week old mess in our hour. Luckily the kiddies wend down for naps and we went into super cleaning mode. Got things done and the showing was decent with five couples coming through. One with good interest. It's tough to have the house on the market but we are ready to move quickly at this point.
We went to our friends the Kroska's for dinner while the open house was on and enjoyed the company of our dear friends that we had not seen for a long time.
Sunday was a nice slow start with the kiddies. Dad was up early for a forty minute bike and 10 minute run before the kiddies woke up. Tried to get loose from the race yesterday morning. Good thing I did that early because the weather did nothing but get worse the rest of the day.
Breakfast and play time then off to Grandma and Grandpa's to put the dock and lift in for the boating season. Not a good day for that but we did not have much choice on that. We are so blessed to have great friends to help with big projects. Brad Bone, Mark Larson, Wendy and Creighton, Dad and I muscled things back into place. It is a great time to remember times with Adam and the sign of great day's and warm weather to come.

Good Morning

It's crunch time. So many things going on all ready we have resorted to early morning workouts starting this week. The house is for sale, fundraising is fun work this year and keeping proper balance with the most important things has made afternoon workouts impossible. Wed mornings are early bike days and Thurs mornings are early run days. Of course its not easy getting out of bed and hour and a half earlier but once I get into things outside it is so wonderful. Coming home on foot or on the bike with the sun coming up over the hill with the church steeple in the forefront is something that I will never tire of.
Get in Gear half marathon is in the morning Sat 4/25. The first of two halves I'm doing this year. This one will be a solid pace for me but not all out. Not enough training, not enough recovery time, it will be wiser to take this one a bit easier. It looks like cold and rain is on tap too so we will enjoy what we have and make the most of it.
Things with the house on the market are slow. We have other places that we can see ourselves in for great prices so we will most likely have to let go of our house for less to make that move.
The kiddies had a bit of a rough week with chest congestion. They were great all things considering but no fun to see your kids sick and wore out. Armand is into everything and is finding his voice more and more. Bijou continues to enjoy everything, what a princess.
Janet continues to be a fantastic mom and care taker of her hubbie. Her part time job has been crazy busy lately and she is enjoying the challenge lately. We hope to make the move to a lesser mortgage sooner than later so she can be home even more.

Make the most of today....If that gets by you there get after it tomorrow.

Summer

So many things are going on right now it feels like the middle of summer. Great things but a lot of things.
The house is on the market now and for some reason I feel the need to do and change all the things that I have wanted to do for the past five years. I all most have all those things done and it feels great to get them done.
That of course is edging out some of my training time but not too much. We are past the base building mode and into the fun speed and endurance mode. Lots of challenging workouts that really feel great.
The weather has finally come around for me to get an outdoor bike in last Sunday. Man that was great. I may even dare to run in shorts this week if I can get out.
The kiddies are wonderful. Two certianly calls for all of your attention, but it is so much fun you don't mind all the things you can't get done any more. Bijou is becoming such a helper with Armand. He love the extra attention. Armand is a monster eater, not picky at all and it shows. He is nine months now and 2o pounds and 30 inches. My guess is that he will be walking before 11 months but we will see.
Mentally and spiritually I have been challenged with many things going on and am enjoying the challenge that each thing brings. I feel blessed with the experiences my life has brought me and continue to enjoy the grace and love that I so much do not deserve. Lately I have been focused on being thankful and positive. It is becoming very clear to me that God want's nothing less for us and when I really think about it I have nothing to complain about. I suppose I should act like it then. Joy is a wonderful thing.
Big fundraiser at our house this Sat. The second annual "triathlon of games" should be a fantastic time. My fundraising is a challenge this year so this should give us a little boost. If you can make it, bring $20 an be at our house no later than 6:30pm Sat night.

God Bless

Miserable : )

The majority of training lately has been in less than perfect weather. Cold wet, windy, some peeks of sun but not the norm as of the last two weeks. Before one of my runs I thought that the weather was down right miserable for a run, who would run in this kind of stuff. You guessed it. I gladly run in all most everything. Miserable trainings are the benchmarks that make great weather, even average weather seem down right perfect. If you choose to find a way to like the miserable stuff that makes everything else wonderful!
I like to think about those that don't have the opportunity to do such things. Those that don't have the ability to run, or those that are sitting in a hospital somewhere wishing they could be anywhere else. Then the weather becomes a blessing.
I had the pleasure of being on a swim relay team with Eric our honored team mate this week. What an inspiration that little man is. If all goes well he is on his way to consider himself cancer free soon. Because of the efforts of what we are doing so many more kids get to say they are cancer free and that makes everything I do worth while.
Eric reminds me so much of Adam when he was 13. Tall skinny bean, glasses and sharp and kind as can be. A real go getter, not afraid of anything. I remember how excited he was last year when he was looking forward to his last spinal tap treatment. Watch a kid get excited about a spinal tap and your worries seem to lessen a bit quickly.
You never know the importance of something until it hits home most of the time. That is how I feel about TNT. Not a perfect organization like all the rest but what they are doing is so important. Life saving important.
I am thankful for the good fortune that we have had with our kids thus far and will continue to fight for the families that are fighting for the very lives of their own children. TNT is so much more that a great training and racing experience.

By the way my fundraising is, as you can expect, a challenge this year. I need to have two thousand raised by April 30 to commit to my races and have $1800 to go. So if you are in a position to support what I am doing with any size donation, consider looking at my fundraising web site. http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/pctri09/aprest

This years training has been top notch so far. The base building stage is mostly complete and am looking to bring things to another level of performance in the next two months.
I recently did a four way trade/swap for a new Triathlon bike. I gave up the Buell motorcycle that I bought new in 98. I still cant believe that I traded my baby for a petal bike. This is not ordinary petal bike that is for sure. And the motorcycle was litterly rotting in my garage so better to see it get used. It now belongs to my coach Bob now and so I am excited to see him race it. The new Tri bike gets here Tuesday and I am more that just a bit excited about it.

We are meeting with a relitor friend of ours soon to get the house on the market. A crazy big step for us but we are confident that it is the right finicial move for us to move on and build equity in something else. I don't know how I will feel when the actual for sale sign goes up in the yard, probably sick. Like I said it is best.

Doing what is right is not always easy.

Season Opener

Race one is now behind us. Last year I ran in the "100% Irish for a day" race. It was a 10 mile race, two laps around Lake Harriet and one around Calhoun. I loved it and had to do it again this year. My training has been great this season thus far. Very balanced, I would say that I am at least a month a head of last season at this point and less weight to loose coming in.
My goal this season is to improve my bike portion of my triathlon races and keep if not increase the swim and run.
I have signed up for one race a month though July, the first three being running races. Last Saturday was #1!
This year I felt I was in better shape so my goal was to stay injury free and to push hard to see where I am at right now. I came in right where I wanted to be with a 6:47 min mile @ 1:07:43 finish. I was hoping for anything less than last years 6:58. So I was delighted about that. I did however work much harder than I expected. I was exhausted for the last three miles of the race. My sleep and nutrition was great the two days coming into the race and race day was great. No problems at all. I am so excited to have the first one done!

We had a mini vacation last week with mom, dad, Erin and Adison, up at Breezy Point Resort. A wonderful relaxing time if that's possible with three little ones entertaining us. We spent a lot of time every day in the pool, reading and playing games. We came home in a blizzard and now this week it is in the 50's and 60's. What a perfect way to say good by to winter....I hope!


Work is a bit slow, but it is allowing me to keep up with things around here. Bijou continues to be our little sweet heart. We have entered the copy cat stage, what a riot. Armand is becoming pretty durable now so they have been playing together much more. That little guy is all ready standing up on everything and soon will be walking along everything. Armand is like his sister with teeth, eight in eight months and more soon to come. He is going to be a hand full when he gets to walking. All ready non stop, getting into everything he can reach.




Church continues to be a blessing. The kids love their child care rooms and the people we meet have been so genuine. Not what we expected from such a big church.

Spring is officially here this Saturday and after this winter we sure deserve some good weather!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.