Holidays 2010

It has been a fantastic holiday season here in Colorado. It was our first Christmas in our new house and as an old married couple. I can't believe it's already January 1st! Where did 2010 go?

Christmas was a quiet one here at home. I must have been a good girl this year because I got one heck of a surprise on Christmas morning:

It was a HUGE surprise and I have to say that I'm not sure how I 've lived without one (or an iPhone) for so long! I LOVE IT! The kids were good as well and were blessed with some treats in their stockings! This bone was actually Lucy's but Peanut didn't get off this dog bed the entire day claiming it for himself. I'd like to see him actually try to eat it.

Later in the day our good friends Jill & Matt and their 2 furry kids came to spend the day with us! While most people have a full house with kids running around hyped up on sugar we get our brood of dogs together run and play in the yard. I wouldn't have it any other way. One day we'll add some real kiddos to that mix!

The day after Christmas I had a late flight into San Antonio to celebrate my dad's retirement. It was a small affair with some of their closest friends and family. More on that in the next blog post! It was a quick trip home, just 2 days, but it's always good to be back in Texas and get my fill of Mexican food. On Monday I ate breakfast tacos in the morning, met the family for lunch at a mexican joint, and my dad's party was a Mexican buffet downtown! Yum Yum!

New Years was quiet. The weather turned nasty on the 30th and dumped about 8 inches on the ground. It was in the single digits and the roads were icy. We had no interest in getting out on the roads so we stayed in and enjoyed each others company. I don't need much to be happy. A quiet night at home with my best friend makes me a happy girl! New Years Eve day we ventured out to the annual Boulder Beer Mile. I tried to talk Kevin into racing but he couldn't be convinced. With temps hovering around 9 degrees it was bad enough standing on the sidelines just watching the crazies strip down to speedos and sports bras to run a mile on the track while chugging a beer each lap. If you can believe it, the winner still ran a 6:37 mile. Welcome to Boulder folks!

Happy New Year! May it be your best year yet!

2011 Goals

Coach asked us to share our goals so I thought, why not share them with the world-the more accountability the better:

Goals:
1) Qualify for Kona again
2) Win an ironman (age group)
3) Improve my running and Run a 3:30 marathon in March AND in Canada, qualifying for Boston
4) Defend 1st place AG in Boulder 70.3, win series again
5) Podium at all my races (except maybe olympics bc I suck at that distance)
6)) Keep a job that still allows me to balance training/racing
8) Stay healthy and injury free
9) Don't drink too much vino on nights before a long run
10) Don't get knocked up before I accomplish these goals :)

9 and 10 might go hand in hand!

I'll keep you posted on whether or not I accomplish them this coming year!

2011 Race Plans

I've finally settled on a race schedule for 2011 and I am so excited about it. I'm feeling super motivated. My foot isn't bothering me even with all the running I've been doing. And I'm already fitter than I was this time last year! The biggest change for next year is that we've (Kevin & I) decided to take the plunge and try a coach this year. I have this love/hate relationship with coaches and I really believe it's an art & science and not many coaches pull both off well. I really feel like too many coaches just give templates and don't take the time to really understand each individual athlete and what makes them tick. I've never wanted to spend the money on a coach and have continued to improve on my own the past few years so never felt the need. However, I've got one or two more years/seasons until we want to start a family and I want to make the most of it. I'm also aging up this year to 30-34 and I might be facing a bit tougher competition, maybe? I'm pretty confident I would improve again this year doing it my own but I want to improve faster and I know that with a bit more help on my bike and run I will! Yes, I'm impatient!

I've never spent the money on a power meter for my bike but coach wants me to have one so I started asking around to buy a used one. Come to find out a friend of mine who hasn't been able to ride in 2+ years decided he wanted his to go to someone who would use it and he just GAVE it to me! My lucky week! The money I just saved on that device alone made me a little less resistant to spend the money on coaching.

I'm really excited about working with Brandon. He and I get along really well and seem to have very similar methodologies and opinions on training. I wanted someone who would work with me rather than just dictate to me what to do. I think it's going to be an excellent partnership. I have some ambitious goals, I think we're on the right track.

Here is what we've settled on. There might be a few others thrown in but for the most part this is it!

2011
March 6 - Napa Valley Marathon

May 15-Disney 70.3

May 31 -Bolder Boulder 10k

June 19 -Boulder Sprint

June 26 - Buffalo Springs 70.3

July 10 - Boulder Peak Olympic

Aug 7 - Boulder 70.3

Aug 28- Ironman Canada

Sept 11- 70.3 World Championship (TBD)

Oct 8- Ironman World Championship (#1 goal this year)

Are you Alive?

Great commercial and of course because La Sportiva is here, it was filmed on allot of my favorite Boulder trails...this makes me want to go for a run, despite the fact that it's 12 degrees outside!

I love long weekends! I hate Mondays!

Thanksgiving was very quiet at my house. Kevin went up to MN to hunt with his brothers and dad so I was left unsupervised-watch out! I was bumming a little on Thursday because he had left and I had nothing to do. I woke up to an email titled "Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt"... he had come up with some clever and funny clues, that had me laughing out loud. They led me around the house and my final clue brought me to these beauties....

I have been wanting a pair of Fryes FOREVER and he made my day! It was a perfect way to start my day and I was so thankful that he did something special since I was home alone for Thanksgiving. I am one lucky girl!

It ended up being a fairly productive and enjoyable break. I got a 2 week pass to a yoga studio and have been cramming in lots of sessions. I got up to the mountains on Thanksgiving day. I finished my Christmas shopping. I got the Christmas decor up, we just need to go get our tree when Kevin gets back. I also got in lots of solid swim, bike, and run sessions! The fitness is on the upswing again and I'm finally committing to the Napa Marathon on March 6th. Yee Haw! #1 Goal-stay healthy and sans injury!

The highlight of my long weekend was going to the Michael Franti concert with my friend Jill Saturday night. We kicked off the night at Gordon Biersch and then danced/sang for hours at the show. He was probably the best show I've ever seen. It was absolutely incredible and I love his profound and creative lyrics. This guy has a true gift and he's using it to make the world a better place. If only the rest of us could do one tenth of what he's doing! I love how he creatively combines art and politics! Here are some of my favorite quotes/lyrics:

• • We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace.

• • Life is too short to make just one decision, music is too loud for just one station, love is too big for just one nation, and God is too big for just one religion!

• • Those who start wars never fight them, and those who fight wars never like them.

• • You say you're a Christian, cause God made you, you say you're a Muslim cause God made you, you say you're a Hindu and the next man a Jew, but then we all kill each other cause God told us to? Naw!

• People ask me a lot, 'what can one person do,' and I say 'I'm not really sure what one person can due except come together with other people.

• A lot of times we look at the whole world and think, 'it's so daunting, how can we change the whole world?' and you don't need to do that, what you need to do is change your world a little bit, and see if you can, through example, inspire others to do the same thing.

• It shouldn't be a Republican or Democratic issue whether we take care of the environment. That should be a human issue.

• You gotta live for the one that you love you know
  You gotta love for the life that you live you know

We got home late so I slept in Sunday and then managed to pull it together for a swim and a long run. My stomach was a bit delicate from the nights festivities so I wasn't sure how the run would go. I hoped to get in 14 miles. I felt great for 10-11, my stomach was screaming by 12 so I had to sneak behind a tree on the trail and leave a little gift, hey-gotta do what you gotta do right?! I had 2 miles til home and ended up walking the last mile I felt so bad. Not the best way to end my weekend but at least I got in my run and the concert was worth every painful step! I laid on the couch for the next 6 hours!

Here you go...if this doesn't make you wanna dance I don't know what will!


It was a great 5 days off, but going back to work on Monday always hurts!

A Cherokee Legend

A colleague shared this with me the other day. I love it...Enjoy!

A Cherokee Legend

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. A fight is going on inside me, he said to the boy.

It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil- he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt,resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. He continued, the other is good- he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you-and inside every other person, too.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, Which wolf will win?

The old Cherokee simply replied, The one you feed.

Thank You PowerBar

This is long overdue but I have to get it out there!

During the most destructive fire in Colorado history ( Four Mile Fire ) that started on Labor Day of this year, we had thousands of fire fighters up in the hills battling the blaze. Within a day a twitter message had spread as fast as the fire about donating energy bars and drinks to the fire stations for the men and women fighting the fire. They are up there for countless hours, days even, and with so many it was hard to get enough food to them. Since our racing/training season was over Kevin & I took most of what we had left from our stash and dropped it off. The fire was spreading so fast and they kept calling more and more fire fighters in from around the country. I felt hopeless sitting down here doing nothing but watch it burn and watch ash fall on our house (miles away).

Being a part of PowerBar Team Elite has been an honor for the past 6 years and not only is it nice to have the product and team but even better to be backed by such an amazing company. I went through the team elite portal and asked them if they'd be willing to make a donation for the fire fighters. Drinks, bars, gels, anything that might help. Within 24 hours they had this on the way:

1332 pounds of PowerBar product! Are you kidding me!?! I am so impressed by their generosity and willingness to give back to the Boulder community at it's darkest hour this year. It says allot about them and although I've always been honored to be a part of such a great team, this has made me a PowerBar athlete for life!

By the time it arrived the fire was mostly contained and the stations couldn't take it all. They took some of it (we've had another fire since so I hope they could use it) and I donated some of it to the local homeless shelter as well.

THANK YOU POWERBAR!!!!

Fun with Friends

This weekend has been the most amazing weekend outside. For November it's just incredible and I wanted to bottle up yesterdays weather so it would never end. 78 degrees down here in Boulder and Kevin, Jax, and I went for a little bike ride in the morning. It was the most amazing day and EVERYONE was outside taking it in.

Later in the afternoon my friends Molly & Shaun came up from Denver with their friend April. Michael & Melissa came over to our house and we all drove up to Nederland to meet some other new friends Jill & Matt. There was 9 adults, 1 baby, and 6 happy dogs! We headed up to the Hessie trailhead in hopes of making our way to Lost Lakes. It was an absolutely beautiful day to enjoy the mountain air with great friends. The trail had tons of snow on it and it wasn't exactly what we were hoping for and we didn't make it up the steep icy trail to the lake but it was still a fun afternoon for building friendships and watching our dogs run in the sun. I'm excited to go back up and snow shoe to the lake. Won't be long!

The sun dropped behind the mountains and it got cold quickly. We got back to the cars just in time and headed to the local watering hole for beers and BBQ! We then headed up to Jill & Matt's adorable mountain house and enjoyed some drinks in front of a cozy fire. They have 2 britney spaniels, like our Lucy, and I can't get enough of them all together! They hope to breed their little girl in the Spring and Kevin & I can't wait to scoop one of them up to add to our pack!

I wish I had gotten some pictures of our whole group. As someone said "it looks like we took the humane society for a hike".

I'm glad we got out in the sun because I see the dark clouds forming over the mountains as I type this. I think winter is on it's way!

All the Brits... Jocassee, Eolus, and Lucy!!!

(Honeymoon post below)

Honeymoon Extraordinaire

Better late than never....We came home rested but being away from work for so long has made me want to pull my hair out trying to catch up. I need another vacation!

I'm going to keep it simple because I don't want to bore you with our "dirty" honeymoon details. I'll start by saying the 10 days we spent in Kauai were simply fantastic. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was a nice balance of lots of adventure and lots of relaxation on the beach. Of all the Hawaiian island I've been to, Kauai is my absolute favorite. The Big Island & Kona holds a special place in my heart because of Ironman but as far as scenery goes and things to do, Kauai takes the cake-hands down!

We did allot in just 10 days

• Zip & Dip -Ziplines and swimming in a water hole
• Snorkeling in the most incredible crystal clear water
• Snuba - snorkel/scuba
• Hiking the Napali coast up to a hidden waterfall to swim
• 7 Hour Catamarn trip up the Napali and to the forbidden island of Ni'ihau
• Ate some of the best seafood in the world
• Laid on the beach drinking cocktails
• Surfing lessons
• Numerous sunsets

The best part of all was spending every day with Kevin! I won't go into those details (wink, wink) but it was just what we needed at the end of our busy year and allow us to celebrate our committment to eachother!

Here are some pictures. They are way more fun than words...

Tom & Jerry

We have a Jerry, and not just 1 but his whole family has moved in. I think we need to find a Tom to help us out. Although, with his success rate I'm not sure Tom would do us much good.

Before we left for Hawaii Kevin and I noticed some mouse droppings in the garage. Now, most houses have mice and especially in older homes there are usually far more convenient places to enter. Kevin says he wouldn't mind so much if they'd just stay in a corner, use the bathroom outside, and not have allot of sex. Well, mice don't really care what we think and have decided our house is nice and cozy place to breed and build a little home for their family!

They are pretty cute huh? Not when they make babies like the Octomom! I hate having to kill them. I'd rather set a live trap and get them and move them somewhere else but there are often just too many to make that practical. We decided against poison because it's a slow painful death and they often go into your walls or crevices and die! We went old school and set the snap traps. I hate thinking about it but to us it's the most humane since it kills them instantly. The week before we left we had already caught 12!!! I asked my dad to keep the traps set while we were away and they caught another 12-15! 98% of them were caught in the garage so I wasn't too worried but my mom said she saw one under our sink, in our garbage (ALIVE), and one in our basement laundry room! Great-they've moved into the Houghton Hotel! Still not too worried with them under the sink but I went into the hall bathroom one night, flipped on the light and saw one run across the floor and bolt into Kevin's office! Oh no! Not OK little mousy! We bought 8 more traps and set them up EVERYWHERE! I think we might have gotten the last 2 under the sink (including the one that ran into the office)! I was laying in bed one night and heard "SNAP" in the kitchen! That's the first time I heard it, although its become a game of how many we can catch and how often! Little f$#&ers aren't welcome here! It's been days and no more have taken bait. They are either getting smarter or we are some damn good mouse hunters!

Now, onto organizing and cleaning up the garage so they can't hide! It's full of mouse poop so I'm not too excited about this project!

If our dogs wouldn't eat it, I'd get a cat to do the dirty work of keeping the mice out!