1st Triple Overtime!!

For the seventh time in eight years, Madison Memorial High School made it through tournament play to compete for the WIAA Division 1 boys basketball state championship.


(black & tan at dinner)

My husband and I LOVE watching the tournament. We went out to dinner, walked around campus and settled in for an amazing set of games. My favorite part are the pre-game lineups, when they dim the lights and flash the spot lights while playing "Are You Ready for This?" Total adrenaline rush!

Our seats were fabulous! We looked right up Memorial's bench during announcements and I saw myself on the TV several times. I waved.

Awesome night. Madison won 80-78 in the first-ever triple-overtime in tournament history.
Madison Memorial Coach Steve Collins calls the championship game, "one of those epic games that people are going to be talking about 40, 50 years from now." Collins was recently named 2011 Associated Press Wisconsin Coach of the Year.



Extra Fun:
- We sat next to Mr. Basketball's grandma. She was adorable taking pictures during the award presentation.
- On our other side was a man who couldn't stay awake---at one of the best games in tournament history!?

Questions:
- What sports do you like to watch?
- What do you do when you see yourself on TV?

March Melt & Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire)

photos: Of course he finds the last patch of snow to ride over! This is our oldest's snowman, made about a week ago.

The weather has turned in Wisconsin and we've lost most of our snow. It might reach 60 degrees tomorrow! We spent most of the afternoon playing in the yard and sitting in the sunshine.


Our middle child drew this great chalk picture on the driveway as I planned a TRX workout. If you didn't notice, he drew buds on the tree as a sign of Spring.

And my husband's test plants all came up. This year he put them in a mini-greenhouse in our office. I'm not sure when he'll start the gardens.

I'm also including an amazing video (below) from the Family on Bikes. I interviewed Nancy Sathre-Vogel last April about their 20,000-mile bike trip along the Pan-American Highway from Alaska to the southern tip of South America. Read that interview and learn more about the logistics of life on the road as a family of cyclists! And look how close they are to the finish!!!

MORE INFO

Follow @familyonbikes twitter
See this week's NBC New York Nightly News interview with Sathre-Vogel .
Family on Bikes on facebook

Family on Bikes blog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWE6Ibi-BZo

Questions for You:

- What's your favorite sign of Spring?

- What's your experience with windy rides or dirt roads?

- Have you been to the Land of Fire (Tierra del Fuego)?

photos by me, video from Family on Bikes

Tri & Triumph: Stamp Set! Endurance-themed Creative Resources

As endurance athletes, we may be quiet pre-race, but once we cross the finish, we like to talk about our race experience, reliving the good and bad. We gather in circles with our race buddies, talk with our families, take notes on the drive home or call up our friends and family. Our experiences matter, so let's extend them a bit in a creative format.

Last fall, as part of my triathlon manuscript project, I helped my friend Kim brainstorm image ideas for triathlon and endurance-themed stamp sets. There are few resources for scrapbooking or card-making triathletes and I knew Kim's company Raisin Boat would come up with a final product worth talking about!

Talking about triathlon creatively was SO fun! I dragged out gear, tri magazines, books and demonstrated all the crazy fun that goes with our sport! I gave her concept ideas, style suggestions and talked about current trends and demographics within triathlon. It was awesome.

I also gave her a disc with nine million pictures from my families' 15+ years of triathlon events and experiences. Raisin Boat is releasing the finished sets this week. Check them out & the sample cards and scrapbook pages too! No more boring seen-it-already clip art--or stick people--now you have endurance-specific images to wish someone luck or preserve your own training and racing experience.

sample layouts (see more online):
My niece and brother-in-law are featured. Layout designed by Kim Ziehr.

center: Look, it's me wearing my GOTRIbal visor (rocks) at IronGirl Racine! Layout designed by Bobbi Lemanski.

Finish line card: Card sample designed by Kim Ziehr.

The sets are on special this week. Nonmembers pay $11.99, members pay $9.59, offer expires 3-13-11. Learn more about buying or renting stamps here.

MORE INFO

Raisin Boat is the first company to offer online stamp rental, like a netflix for stamps. You can rent or buy stamp sets. Kim and her friend Bobbie created Raisin Boat, you can read more about them and the company here. Special note: I think Kim is awesome & she is my friend. But it's important to clarify that I am not getting money from sales, though I think I get the tri set for free.

Questions for You:

- How do you preserve your race experience? Save the bib? Take notes? Photos?

- What's the best good luck/well done endurance card you've received or given?