The Bling

My rings are done! I am so excited because they are so cool! I loved how Kevin gave me such and incredible diamond and allowed me to pick something out that I really wanted to wear! I loved it exactly how it was but together we picked this....

I've always loved sapphires and how deep & rich blue they are. Fact of the day: Did you know a ruby and a sapphire are the same thing? A ruby is just a red sapphire. Sapphires can also be purple, various shades of blue, green, black, grey, etc. Next to some incredibly sparkly diamonds they looking stunning! I didn't pick them because of September (they are the Sept stone) but it worked out well that we got engaged in Sept & will probably get married next Sept so it will conveniently be our anniversary stone "hint hint, wink wink Kevin!"

I can't wait to add the band and wear the set together. Until then....

And no, still no date is set. We are in the process of moving Kevin to Boulder (WAHOO!!!!) so that has taken precedence recently. Honestly, I don't even have wedding on the brain, I'm just so excited to finally be in the same town together. We'll get married one day. What's the rush right? Oh ya, that darn biological clock. I forgot about that :)

Harvest Moon Half Ironman

Another race down and a successful one it was... although not what I expected!

I was not feeling the love for racing the week prior and especially Friday night before the race. It was supposed to be cloudy and cool with a chance of showers so this only drowned my desire to race even more. The primary goal for this race was for training & nutrition simulation for IM and if that went well then my secondary goal was to place top 3 and earn some more points for the season.

Swim:

The water temp was roughly 66 degrees so it was wetsuit legal for pros as well. I feared it would be a bit chilly but once I hit the water it felt just right for racing. I was in the 2nd wave and I lined up in the front to avoid the madness. The gun went off and I hammered to get out front. There was 3 of us leading the way and 1 other gal took off faster than I could hold so I let her go. I eventually dropped the other girl who was on my feet and I was on my own. It took me 300-400 meters to find my breath and my rhythm but once I did I felt great. Made it to shore and looked at my watch...24:xx!!! Um, I think it was short. I know I had a good swim but I know I didn't swim it in 24 minutes. My guess it was about 4 minutes short, every ones times were really fast. I was 2nd out of the water.

I made it up the long uphill run to T1. There were some dark clouds hovering and although I was warm from my swim I was pretty sure the bike might be a bit on the cool side. I attempted to pull on my jacket but got frustrated trying to get it on and gave up to save the time knowing full well I might really regret that in about 5 minutes.

Bike:

This was a really fun course. Some good rollers in the beginning, then a fast flat middle section, then back on the rollers to get home. I don't have a computer

so I wasn't sure of my pace and the course wasn't clearly marked with mileage so I was in no-mans land in regards to knowing how fast I was going. Once past the rollers and onto the flats we had a great tail wind and I knew I was flying. No one was passing me and I felt pretty good. I was having a hard time feeling "warmed up" in my legs. They just felt heavy. I wasn't cold and my core was warm but my feet were cold and my legs just felt tight from the cold air. The last 15 miles were brutal. Rolling hills with a strong head wind. I felt like I was crawling, I wasn't getting passed so I figured everyone was struggling with me. Eventually we made it back to the res and I was ready to get onto the run, more so because I was ready to call it a day!

Into T2, there were hardly any bikes back so I knew I had a pretty good lead. Kevin was spectating and confirmed that I was 4th female in, and I figured the 1st in my age group. Question was could I keep it?

Run:

I felt like a lead weight. I was nervous about my nutrition starting the run. Because it was so cool I was having a hard time eating and drinking enough on the bike.

I think I drank only 2 bottles (1 water, 1 fuel) and had maybe 3 gels. I felt like I was running 9mm and had no spark in my legs. Aerobically I felt like I was pushing but my legs felt heavy. Like the bike, I think it was the cooler weather. I wasn't cold just stiff muscles. It took about 3 miles off the bike to get the feeling back in my feet though. Haha. The website for this races LIES! It said the run was flat and it was certainly not flat. It was rolling the entire way. I didn't mind so much it's just not what I was expecting. AND you could see the finish line the entire time running around the lake...what a tease! Right before the turn around one girl ran up behind me we had a brief conversation and she ran ahead, I couldn't pick it up. She wasn't in my age group either so I didn't care too much. I watched to see if there were any other girls near by and there was no one for a ways and none of them looked like they were running to fast so I knew if I could hold on I would have 5th place. Half mile from the finish line I looked back and there was 1 women a little ways back, I picked up the pace. I wasn't about to let someone pass me this close to the end.

I finished in 4:52. Another 1/2 IM PR for me. I ended up running a 1:39 half marathon, which I believe is my fastest half marathon ever as well. Not what I was expecting considering my low motivation to race, lack of nutrition consumed during the entire race (2 bottles & 4 gels total), and my stiff/heavy legs but you won't hear me complaining!

I felt sick after and couldn't get anything down. I knew I needed to eat but I couldn't take more than a few bites. My lips turned blue standing around, I guess I was colder than I thought I was. We sat in the car for a while to warm up until awards and then hit the road to get home.

Here are some pics Kevin took:

Pre-Race

Swim Start

Coming out of the water

Leaving on the bike

Starting the run

Finishing the run

Trying to force some food down

Now we're 8 weeks out from Florida and it's all business for the next 6 weeks before taper time. I am so excited to see what I can do in Florida and to see what kind of marathon I can run on this flat/fast course!

The Proposal

Since people are asking for details, here they are....

It was a pretty normal weekend overall. Kevin had been traveling all week in VA for work and flew back into Denver Friday night. We spent the evening in Boulder and did a bike ride Saturday morning. Mid-day we headed back to Colorado Springs since he'd been gone for a week and to possibly do some work on getting his house rented. That night we went to the annual Balloon Glow just across the way from his house. I'd never been so it was cool to see.

Saturday we slept in with good intentions to get up and get a longer ride done. We were enjoying our coffee and breakfast out on the back deck as we watched the balloons fly over. There were so many it was really neat! Quickly losing motivation to get on our bikes for 6 hours we decided to take a hike up to "our" Aspen Grove just west of town.

This is a favorite hike of ours and we try to do it at least every Fall when the leaves are changing. There is great camping up there too and most people don't know about it so it's a private little place we really enjoy! Here are some photos of another time we were up there and the Aspens were glowing!

The Proposal

We were hoping the aspens would be changing this time but were were a few weeks early. The hike was pretty uneventful until we were about 5 minutes from the grove and it started raining pretty hard and it didn't look like it was going to clear up anytime soon. We found a big tree and waited it out a bit. It finally let up a little but the dark clouds were still hanging over head but we weren't getting soaked so we ventured onward and upward. Once we got to the aspen grove we just wandered off trail up higher were there are a bunch of cool rock outcroppings were you can see the entire grove and some incredible mountain and canyon views. We'd never found this exact spot before and honestly I was just bushwhacking my way up to get a view. Almost to the second we reached the top a HUGE thunder boom roared overhead and I was ready to turn around and not be at the highest point up there but as soon as I turned to find a way down Kevin was down on one knee! Seriously? Holy cow! I almost tripped him off the cliff when I moved my foot that he was partially kneeling on but he remained unscathed. Thank God, this was not the time to fall off a cliff. It didn't take long to say yes, in fact I think it was more like a "hell yes, I'll marry you!" The only ones up there, enjoying the beauty & tranquility of a mountain thunderstorm...it couldn't have been more perfect. Not a single person knew about it or that it was going to happen so it was a special moment between just the two of us.

The Ring

Ok, here I just have to say how creative and amazing my fiance is! The ring he bought me is gorgeous. It's a simple solitaire princess cut stone and is absolutely amazing. He told me that he shopped and shopped and wanted to do something custom or get something with sapphires that I mentioned I liked but could not decide on what exactly. So, he got me this amazing stone and setting and said that I could pick what I wanted to put it in myself. It's something fun we can do together and he wants me to have exactly what I want to wear! I love it! We went shopping a bit yesterday and I think I found what I want so we are going to try another jeweler this week and see if we can't get it made! I can't wait! I love it like it is and I don't want to change it allot because I want it to look similar to what he picked out! Here are some current photos of it.

Wedding Plans

Nothing is set yet! We both love Colorado and especially the Fall in Colorado. So the preliminary survey says it'll be sometime in Sept/Oct 2010. Neither one of us wants a huge extravagant wedding. To us it's not about the big wedding, cakes, flowers, and the center pieces we pick but the commitment that is being made to each other. I would love an outdoor event with our closest friends and family. I simply want it to be a celebration of what's taking place with the most special people in our lives. We are hoping to get a slot to Kona again next October so if it all works out we might have a ceremony before that and then extend our stay in Hawaii for a honeymoon. Or we might just get married on the beach. Who knows?! We'll keep you posted!