Tri-Dogmom

A few years ago a good friend emailed me with subject title of lemonade..... You know, life gives you lemons, you make.... well you know the rest (or can read about it here ). 2009 has been all over the wall for the LaPans. If you have read my blog you have read all about the fun times. The numerous races I've been able to do setting PR in many distances. The entire summer spend traveling around, first with our friends in Utah, followed by months in the Pacific Northwest. It was a summer of fun, reconnecting with old friends, losing touch with others. We visited people and places and tried new things and didn't follow a plan. Sorta lived in the moment. While yes, it still all sounds absolutely fantastic in 2009, it wasn't the complete story. I tend to talk about all the good in life. Glass half full kinda blogger, I suppose. I'm not going to change anything about that, just wanted to put it out there that I am expecting, hoping and longing for bigger, better a

Somehow, we didn't manage to get our stuff together and create our traditional Holiday cards.... It's one of our favorite things to do this time of year, creating some sort of story line about our year, or what is to come. While this year has had it's ups and downs, to be shared in another post about the upcoming NEW YEAR, we did have a huge loss - our Sara girl. So, to honer her I wanted to share our very first Christmas Card, circa 2002. May you all have a fabulous Holiday - And we will be sending New Years wishes soon!

This isn't going to really be a "race report" per say, because honestly after the first 11 miles, it wasn't a race for me. It was a walk/run, say hi to my cheerleaders & wait for someone (Shane) to tell me I should stop so I didn't hurt myself any further. But, that's not what happened, I got a "suck it up buttercup," instead... and so, I did..... Of course I can't start there without first going into the pre-race mishaps. And, now that it's over and done with I can totally laugh about it, but at the time -Not.So.Funny. We left fairly early on Sat and went a back way to get to the start of the race. I wanted to see the course (which was a rookie mistake because I NEVER do this) because they had changed an out and back section and it looked like a good climb on the elevation map. Driving the route you do see how much up there is in the first half. Certainly NOT a downhill course. Net down, absolutely. The new out and back, not pretty at al

I'm bored. The End. Just kidding. Well, kinda. I'm starting to get restless. And, I should probably really get out of the house at some point. Shower, maybe even brush my hair and apply makeup. Someday that will happen. Someday . After our week in Mexico I've REALLY started my taper. Taking resting to a whole knew level. Well, it's been a week and I totally feel rested and ready. Well, maybe not totally ready...but I do know that come Saturday I will be. There is something so different about a marathon taper vs an Ironman taper. Lots, actually. In Ironman taper you are exhausted. Famished. Sore, tired, hungry and grumpy. You wonder how you could possibly go 140.6miles in ONE day when you feel that crappy. And, for me at least, it lasts 2 FULL weeks. The last few long workouts are horrific. You start to doubt yourself. Then compare it to the marathon taper. Which I may have thought similar to the description above if, well if I had never experienced the Ironman taper. Sa

Last year we were convinced (aka guilted) into not going through with our tradition of going to Mexico for my birthday and Christmas. We did have a good time visiting with family and being with friends late into the evenign Christmas night. However, when we made the decision to celebrate our Christmas Holiday in Mexico, it was to build our own traditions. To avoid feeling guilty for leaving one parents or grandparents house too early, or not spending enough time with one family or another. It was our way of saying, this is what WE want to do. So, last year we stayed in Phoenix until the 26th. On Christmas Eve, also my birthday, we went to dinner with my family, then drove to Shane's family after their celebration to at least say hello. We ended up home around Midnight. On Christmas morning we woke up just in time to shower and get in the car to go visit Shane's (other) parents for Christmas breakfast - Almost 3 hours later and a photo radar ticket, we stopped by our house to le

The other night we somehow ended up watching Late night with Jay Leno - or whatever his show is called. Now that it starts at 9, it's not really THAT late. They had on some contestants from The Biggest Loser so we watched until we got to see them. But, first up was Howie Mandel. The only thing I know about that guy is he was the host of that silly show "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" Wait that's not right - it's the other one, the one with the brief cases... whatever that one was called - same difference, no? Anyhow, my point was watching him made me nervous. He's ADD on a whole other level, planet actually. I was seriously stressed out just watching him. He couldn't finish a thought or make a point to SAVE.HIS.LIFE. And then I realized, on a (hopefully) much lower level I am the SAME way. Especially lately. If I don't have 999things going on, or a million different things to do, plan, figure out well then, I'm bored. Even when I'm busy workin

Today is my baby boy's 8th birthday. Makes me sad. I hate that he's getting older. As nice as it is that he's not crazy 24hours a day, I miss it. He's still got so many years left in him, but really I wish he could stay 3 forever! Minus the hole in the wall he tried to eat through. Here we are on the first day I got to bring him home, the day after Christmas, 2001. We were both babies then, and pretty much grew up together. He's been THE BEST running partner anyone could ever ask for. We had our moments where I was barely running 10min miles and he wanted to go 7min miles. But, I think we've finally found our middle ground, and the gentle leader. Still, he would be and always has been most happy OFF LEASH. Shane tried to blame the fact that Baxter is somewhat of a lush on ME. But, here I have proof. Baxter's first taste of wine. Yes, that would be Shane's hand. I'm pretty sure he was trying to get the puppy to calm the F&%^ down. Little did he

The first time we visited Rocky Point at the end of October/Beg of November was after my first half Ironman (Soma). I remembered being surprised how gorgeous the weather was. Nice enough to still sit on the beach, yet cool mornings and nights. This past weekend was much of the same. The first couple days were cooler, but not COOL by any means. I was able to get in my 90min "long run" which actually was harder than I thought (couldn't have had ANYTHING to do with my hydration methods or anything). But, I survived. Baxter could not have been more happy. For the most part, the beach was quiet, just a few families here and there, but Bub's beach was almost all his. We were also blessed with very calm waters. Not yet cooled down, I actually got in and splashed around a bit. We took the kayak out a couple times, which reminded me how much I need to get back to my Daniel torture to strengthen myself up. I'm WEAK. My forearms are still a little sore. On our last day the w

Living in the desert is like no other place, really. We have some of the most gorgeous sunsets. The fall and spring make you feel like you've died and gone to heaven. Cooler mornings & evenings. Beautiful afternoons. You can walk, run, ride your bike, swim and enjoy meals outside ALL DAY LONG. Then however, mother nature sneaks in one of those gawd awful weekends, just when you think you've hit that died and gone to heaven time of the year that makes you want to kill yourself. Or, something like that. That weekend JUST happened. Most of you know my obsession with the weather. I don't know why, because it really is what it is & you can't do anything about it. Even if I'm sick in bed, for some reason I just want to KNOW. Traveling? The obsession starts about 2 weeks out. I mean what's a girl gonna wear? So of course I knew that it was going to be a high of 100degs on Saturday. But, when you live in AZ 100degs really doesn't seem like anyt

"Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. " Wikipedia We all have our hobbies, whether it be running, triathlon, car racing, horse racing or even the well, interesting Olympic sport of curling. Or, non athletic hobbies of sewing or scrap booking or hunting and fishing. When you find something you love, you start out just doing, then you might end up actually competing. Some compete from the get go. My husband is one of those. He loves the fire, the competitive spirit and the challenge. I used to loathe it. I used to make myself sick thinking about it. I'd be nervous before training sessions, let alone racing. I admire his ability to say what he's GOING TO DO. I've been able to get over half my battle. To give what I have, and not be afraid to leave it all out there, regardless of t

After struggling through the first few weeks back it the heat, the weather has finally changed. It's stunningly beautiful in the mornings, not forcing us to run at dark thirty am. The evenings are starting to cool, and our AC is finally not killing itself to keep the house cool. Yup, it's fall here in AZ, honestly one of the most beautiful times & places to be.... The first weekend in October we had the honor of heading to Sonoma to celebrate the wedding of our friends Ric & Sara. We could not be more happy for this couple. I can honestly say this was one of the most beautiful, elegant weddings I have ever been to. The setting was gorgeous, the details simple and perfect. And, of course the weekend of wine tasting could not have been better... Our AZ family with the Happy couple The happiness was so obvious, you couldn't help but get goosebumps during the ceremony Natalie & Jeff... Our own little "rehearsal dinner" night and rehearsal day.... Sh

A few month ago I got a message via facebook from one of my elementary school teachers, Mrs Reeves. She wanted to know if I had a copy of a book I wrote for the "Writer's Conference," and if not, she wanted to send it to me. At first I had no idea what she was talking about. I wish I was on of those people who remembers all the wonderful little details of their childhood, but I'm not. I know bits and pieces, and things I did and participated in. I know I was a good student, very involved in everything (particularly when I was very young) and as far as I knew - well liked by my teachers. But, what struck me the most was the fact what Mrs. R. was referring to was a writing achievement, vs math. I don't remember ever being much of a writer, but always the brainy math nerd. Of course I replied that I would LOVE to receive the book, and sent her my address. Right before we left for the summer I received the book in the mail, along with a letter from my former teacher.

Look at this. Two posts, back to back. Is this a comeback? Nah, I am just getting back into the routine of being home. Not doing tri -training where a couple workouts a day are required, and it's HOT so I'm up EARLY to get the workout out of the way. Work is slowly picking up (good), but still not keeping me totally busy these days. So what happens with that? More time to think. And ramble. I think I mentioned several times how, ugh, much we didn't exactly train over the summer. Yah , sure we worked out, and the first 4-5 weeks had a few races in there, but trust me we learned the hard way. You can't wing it if you still want to perform well. Which really does suck considering we were in GREAT shape before we left here. But, did you know that when you head out on all of your bike rides a leetle hung over AND end up cutting them ALL short, you don't maintain or gain ANY fitness. It's true. Trust me, no need to try it out yourself. So, the other thin

I'm pretty sure I've written on here more than once about how I will never do a stand alone marathon again. Or alluded to that anyway. Stupid IT bands, Stupid injuries = stupid painful marathon. And then, the next thing you know I have a wild hair up the you know what, a $10 off early registration coupon = Krista signed up for a FULL marathon. Never say Never. My new motto. Tucson Marathon, Dec 13th 2009. OH Shit. What have I done? It may have been the 10 week 'bender' I was on while "summering in CDA", as I've been told we were doing... That may have been the icing on the cake. More happy hours than workouts over the course of the summer. More lbs gained than lost. A few jiggles that weren't there when I started. Yah, something like that. Not ready to commit to an ironman. Not much time on the bike. Certainly no swimming. And Running in the fall and winter in Arizona, heavenly. A winter, downhill course in Tucson, even better. So, here I

We finally made it home last night. Barely. About 3 hours away neither of us had any idea where the house key was. We searched all the bags, purse ( murse ) and then moved on to plan B. Who has a key to our house? Thankfully, and without too much drama, we were able to pick up a spare on the way home, grab some takeout and were point to point Supa's to LaPan Casa in 10:20 mins ( including extra stops)! Pheww ... much betta than the 11.5hrs from 9mile to Salt Lake City on Tuesday. I'm not ready to recap the last few weeks yet, but I'll leave you with this. Dinner with my favorite Utah people in the world, and a picture of my Utah girls, baby Tweet included.. Mwahhh to you all, I miss you (and your weather even if I can't breath or climb up your mountains very well) already. Until next time.....

Have you ever been back to a place, that somewhere in your lifetime you spent a LOT of time. Somewhere you have a lot of memories, like you could go back to that place with just a blink of an eye? Priest Lake, Indian Creek Campground - that's my place. We spent a week to 10days there every year growing up for as long as I can remember. If we were friends growing up, you probably spent some time there with me as well. Even in College I brought a few of my roommates there for a weekend in the summer. My parents would be first in line on the phone (post holidays) to reserve our week, the second week in August. Yes, you had to make reservations in JANUARY for August to go CAMPING?! Usually, we had 1-4 campsites between all of my parent's friends, and, if we were lucky we got the sites along the creek, no campers behind us... just skunks, and bears and well - pretty much all the critters that hang out in the woods. So many memories. Night swimming and volleyball on the beach. Frogs

Where has the time gone? We left Arizona over 7 weeks ago! The first week in Utah flew by, probably because we were running ourselves (or, being drug) into the ground by the Billy Goat Benny, and Supa... But, 6 weeks in Coeur d'Alene ALREADY. WTH? With only 2 weeks left we were starting to realize we hadn't done nearly what we wanted to! Shane has been working his tail off, and while my work hasn't been all that busy - races are behind us, we needed to take the next 2 weeks and really enjoy ourselves! We started out Friday! Date night :-) We headed out to the floating restaurant, Cedars (I have ALWAYS wanted to eat here!). It was a nice night, perfect temperatures, but a little windy (which made for an interesting meal on the floating patio!). The food was fantastic. I chose seared scallops with red mashed potatoes & green beans - I made a really good choice. Shane had the cedar plank salmon with wild rice & veggies. Of course finished with a chocolate molten cake.