Tri-Dogmom

I've been meaning to write this post for a week now, but somehow between the sunshine in Mexico, a sick dog & a fancy New Years Eve party… it's a wee bit late. On December 24 th I turned 34. It was a pretty darn good year for me. I decided I'm liking my 30s and I can only hope that it just keeps getting better. So, with that I want to do a little fun post about 34 things, people or places that helped make my year! I've thankful for each one of these... In no particular order, here we go: 1. Sunshine: Don't get me wrong, I love a good swim in a nice cloudy rainy day… but nothing gets me outta bed and moving like some blue sky and sunshine 2. My job. While I won't go on and on about how my job is so wonderful & I'm changing lives or living my dream career (cause those just aren't true), I am extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity to work from home with Melisa . It gives me so much flexibility to do all the things that make m

For the past few years I've done some birthday workouts on my own. I'd bike xx miles, swim xx meters & run XX mins. I think the first year I even managed to do them all in a day. Always before my birthday, since it's on the 24th and well it's k inda har d to ride your bike and swim the laps at the beach…. Some people wonder why they heck I would want to push myself for my birthday, (yes I was asked this questions last week) vs relaxing and indulging. If you read this blog, well then you know that is just not my style. Last week started the birthday workouts off with an impromptu bike ride. It was my first ride post Tucson half and my legs were still tight, but manageable. I met my training partner T on a pretty cool am and we headed out for a 2 hour flat ride. We were bundled up cozy, but the sun was shining and as we were heading up north we looked over and saw the 4 Peak mtns covered in snow. It was absolutely gorgeous. As we got close to the 1hr mark jus

It's hard to end a season when your big A race was only half way through the year. Sure, summer training isn't the most fun in AZ, but sitting on the sidelines for 6 months after IMCDA wasn't what I wanted to do either. Since I didn't have my best day at CDA , I wasn't finished. After taking July off of training - absolutely no running and just ez swim and bike training to keep the blood flowing, I started back up training in August for Soma Half IM . I got a new bike, and without being completely comfortable on it, raced Soma in some brutal heat & while not having a great run - set a half IM PR. Somehow I just still wasn't quite done. After a quick recovery from the half I sent Michelle a note and said I wanted to do the Tucson half marathon and yes it was only 5 weeks away but I wanted a PR. My old half marathon PR was a 1:45:32 at the Ogden marathon in 09. My last half was at the Women's half Marathon last Nov where I ran a 1:45:47 - I

Over the weekend Shane & I actually didn't have too much going on so we rented a few movies - a couple that I added made note of while watching some previews (isn't it annoying how some movies now don't let you skip through the previews?). Anyway - I'm a sucker for a good story line, something sometimes kinda quirky and different than the big box stuff. Although, truth be told I am wishing my niece was a teeny bopper (just for this month - then I'll rewind her back to 8years old) so I could have a date to go see the new Twilight movie. Examples of movies that I could (and have) watch over and over are: Garden State - A little dark, but also funny and sad and has one of the best soundtracks in a LONG time. Juno - I'm not sure I've ever loved so many one-liners from a movie, ever. Ellen Page is AMAZING and who doesn't love Bleaker? This is probably my most favorite movie in the past 10 years. I'm also a HUGE Kevin Smith fan. Mallrats is my

I'd been toying with the idea of running the Tucson half marathon for a while, but didn't officially commit until a few weeks ago. After IMCDA I took over 4 weeks completely off running. My foot was either on the verge of, or had a minor stress fracture. My friend and podiatrist suggested (gasp) time off. Since it was July and 4000 degrees outside, it honestly wasn't that hard. When I started running again in August to train for Soma, my run was nothing short of awful. My aerobic pace had slowed almost a minute a mile and my HR would sky rocket up to my HR cap so easily. I was grumpy and slow and grumpy and HOT. I stuck with it and finally, after a shitty run at an Olympic race at the end of September I got some speed work put on my schedule. It took just a few weeks of pace work as well as some temperature drops to get some of my speed back. Unfortunately race day gave us 100deg temps to run in so my run performance was less than stellar at Soma, but whadaya gon

Anyone who reads my blog or trains with me in AZ knows how much I've enjoyed being part of the Recovery e21 team. I can't say enough good things about the magic seaweed pills. They've helped me train harder, have a season of PRs and most of all avoid massive headaches and nausea due to sodium loss in the crazy desert heat. I wrote a little bit about some of the results I've experienced in an old post about my favorite things. You can find it at the bottom of the post here . I've given out a ton of samples to my local friends and training partners and have heard all positive things about it (except the only negative is the "fishy taste"). It's funny tho, I seriously don't even notice it! I've taken up to 12 of these in one day and never had a problem getting them down. If you are interested in being part of the team representing and promoting this amazing supplement, please go here and fill out the application! Feel free to contact me w

So, I'm training for a half marathon. A 5 week training plan that is :-) I don't think I've actually ever trained for a half. I've done lots of them, but never just trained for them. Most were in the middle of a marathon training, or done on a whim, but never actually my big goal. However, after Soma where it was hot as hell our AZ weather finally turned and it is now the most beautiful running season of the year. You could pretty much run at any time of day right now. Top the perfect weather with all the local run races right now and I just couldn't help myself from dragging out my race season for a few more weeks! Tucson is a small race that has a slight downhill (about 750 ft over 13 miles). Most of the drop is in the first 10k and then it flattens out with a couple of false flats. The kicker is mile 12-13 is up. You really have to dig deep and have some energy left so you don't end up walking next to everyone else, but then the last little shot to t

Yesterday I woke up a little stiff in my upper body. In reality a massage would have been amazing, but that wasn't on the schedule so out of no where before I had enuf caffeine in my system to think logically, I sent a couple texts to my parter in crime T (she's REAL ez to peer pressure into stuff) to see if she would go to a yoga class with me at noon. After several more texts back and forth about the class and her thinking it might be too hard for a first time yoga, then back and forth with our little tri club/yogi friend Abby, we somehow had a plan to meet for the noon "heated" (not HOT) power yoga class… Good lord what have I gotten myself into? I told Shane I was meeting Matt & T for yoga and I think he almost cried laughing at me…. As the clock got closer to noon I started thinking, "Why didn't I just go swim ?" But, instead I went and found my most yoga looking clothes - capri tights and a longer tank top, IM branded of course :-), got in

I'm gonna try to do this race report a little different than my usual over-detailed, over analyzed report. There was so much great, so much blah and so much oh my goodness I'm going to die BAD. But, in the end I dug deep kicked the bad guy off my shoulder and got er done with a smile! I was back to my self which is what I'm most proud about; Doing what I love to do and not being bitchy about it. I really did not like how I felt and acted last month, and am happy to say it was a fluke. While finally being competitive after so many years in this sport, it doesn't mean I need to lose the ME in it. The good: The I felt like a rock star every time I was near transition and heard the cheers of SO MANY amazing supporters. My team - wow what an amazing group of spirited and talented athletes. My very first coaches who helped me with my first marathon and thru my first half ironman. So many friends that were out there watching and cheering, as well as on the course! My

Am I the only one that feel like absolute ASS during a taper? Or, any race week for that matter? It drives me batty. I turn into a complete hypochondriac. I'm tired, sore and just plain old not myself. I start to feel achy and my lungs tight (or ARE they?) and and and… SEE - I become a complete basket case. I don't get it. I'm not nervous to race. I'm excited! I'm excited to go push and have fun and race with so many friends out there. While I don't feel like I'm back up to speed like I was at my last half (Oceanside), I've definitely come back around in the last couple of weeks. My run speed has come back quite a bit and I even PR'd my 5k during a little splash and dash race on Saturday with enuf energy left in the bank to go run an extra 5 miles after the race! Sunday I felt pretty beat up, but got in a good 2 hour ride with some tempo intervals and a 3 mile race pace run (which felt pretty easy). Monday I was tired, but after a 9 hou

Such an inspirational weekend following everyone on their Kona adventures. I had some serious envy of those on the beautiful island both racing AND spectating. Honestly, I'd take either! Kona was never ever been a goal of mine. Since my first triathlon ( Las Vegas Sprint in 02') to my first half Ironman ( Soma 05') to my first Ironman ( CDA 07')… I was always a back of the to mid pack "racer." Injury after injury kept me from improving, and honestly I just never thought I could improve much. But, things change and who knows… maybe someday….. I remember training for my first marathon and a couple of gals on our charity team who were 10+years older than me were in amazing shape, looked great and FELT great. I was in my early 20s, drinking a LOT ( ok , some things don't change all that much) and more of an exerciser than an athlete. I remember asking them how (after KIDS) and being 10+ years older than me they looked so amazing. Flat abs, ton

So what happens when your husband's bday & your girlfriend turning 40 happen right next to each other? Trouble, that's what. All innocent (mostly) and fun of course… but certainly not conducive with half Ironman training. Tuesday's festivities started out celebrating Karen's bday with an all girls night - cooking/dinner class mixed in. The event was in LA (or it seemed like it was that far after a couple of bottles of champagne, full bellies and wine mixed in there) so we had a DD for the way out there and one of the girls daughter's pick us up! It was a super fun night and we learned a few cooking tricks! Every tried Grilled Romaine for salad? Do it, it's THAT good. So, after the innocent dinner we should have been home and in bed by about 10:30, but someone (not sure who this was???) had the brilliant idea that the celebrations couldn't end THAT early. You only turn 40 once (thank GOD) after all.. So, somehow we got dropped off at a neighborho

Only a few hours post race and shockingly, I'm already writing my race report. I wish it were due to a fantastic race high, but it's more so I can stop my complaining and move on. While my times (minus my run) were decent, I just didn't have it out there today. I mentioned to someone earlier that I know on paper it looks good, but to be honest - I'd rather finish dead last and FEEL like I had a GREAT day. I've mentioned in a few posts lately that I just haven't felt well. Seems like every 2 weeks for the past 6 weeks Shane & I both ended up feeling sick. Congestion, fatigue, and mad allergy like symptoms. When it hit me again this week I started to get a little worried. My sinuses were swollen, my chest hurt, my head was pounding. I worried about getting another asthma flare up and having it put a huge damper on my health like it did this same time a few years ago when I DNF'd Soma . I put myself on the couch most of Thursday & Friday and

So, when I said my next post was going to be with a picture of my pretty new bike… I wasn't kidding. I could write a 10 page post about all the ups and downs of this bike buying experience, but anyone who has had any interaction with me over the past 2 months has already heard it. From the first bike (Argon) not fitting, to the road bike fit to determine what TT bike would in fact fit me (road bike fit STILL not finished, btw), to the seat post clamp drama, custom wheel tags, aerobat drama, bike physcho/guru, blah blah… Yup, I'm ready to move on! So without further ado, meet; MARGARITA Baxter is having a little bit of difficulty understanding why there isn't a yummy drink in front of him every time I say her name, but he's smart…. I think he'll figure it out, or not since we're heading back to Mexico next weekend. I've been out on her a whopping 3 times, and will have a short 50min ride tomorrow, then she'll be out on her first race. While I might ge

I was hoping my next post would be a big bright shiny picture of my new bike, "___" (yes, I totally already have the most perfect name in the world picked out for her. Unfortunately my mini-me cranks and R2C shifters won't be in until today, so she's not quite finished. I'm going to go stalk my bike shop to make sure I can pick her up by tomorrow, and I have my fit appointment for Tuesday! As soon as I finish my fit, I will be driving her straight back to the bike shop to be finished up (taped, cabled, etc) and will have her Wed, ready to ride Thursday. I CAN'T FREAKING WAIT. Anyhoo - last weekend we headed up North to Flag to get outta the heat. I booked a house the same week I booked our Show-Low weekend, making it easier to swallow the fact we had another 6 weeks of heat and hell left before our temperature (lows) would start to drop below 90 degs . While Show Low was a bust, we definitely made the most of Flagstaff! My gf Karen split the rental wi