Tri-Dogmom

I'm not really sure if I can even describe what an amazing day I had in Canada last Sunday.  I remember everything about it (not usual).  I never had a crazy low.  I never felt like I couldn't do it, or more importantly that didn't want  to be there.  I've never smiled so much in my entire life.  I've never had so much fun. The days leading up to the race I felt good.  Maybe too good.  I was calm, rested, happy.  For the first time in 5 Ironman I knew I had done everything I possibly could to make my training count.  No skipped workouts because I was too tired, or because I just didn't want to do them.  I did the work, I made the work count.  I knew that the only factor that could mess up my day was going to be ME.  I knew that all my issues in the past 2 IM have been nutrition related and bonking, and I was not going to let that happen. I stayed pretty quiet leading up to the race.  Every night when I went to bed I visualized the race start, my transitions.

A little less than a year ago, over some martinis and a weekend in Flagstaff a plan was made to race Ironman Canada.  Community Fund slots were the only spots open, with the exception of a possible Team Newton/Athletes for a Cure entry, that I had heard about. At the time I didn't realize what a whirlwind my year would become.  I decided rather than just write a check over to the Ironman Community Fund Foundation, I would try to do a little bit better.  I decided to be part of something bigger and try to raise more money. I always seem to go back to the "when life gives you lemons," saying.  This year life, God, whatever it was threw me a whole bag of big fat rotten lemons.  In March just a few weeks into training, and just after announcing I was going to be part of Team Newton/Athletes for a Cure raising money for prostate cancer, I received a phone call that I will never forget.  My sister called me saying that my mom was…. gone.   GONE. I honestly can't rem

A few weeks ago I had a very nice representative from a new (or new to me) swim gear company contact me about taking a look at their website , AquaGear.com .   I'm an easy sale.   Swim gear, online shopping & product/site review. I'm IN! I was able to pick out a couple of items to try out and see how their ordering, shipping, and service went.  I have to say I'm more than impressed.  I've been a long time customer of swimoutlet.com.  Mostly for their swimsuit selection, but over the years I've been beyond frustrated at their website performance.  It's slow, and half the time I click on a suit I want they are only available in child size 24s??? Anyway.  While AquaGear isn't currently supplying a selection of swimsuits, they are working on expanding to do so in the near future. I would like to point out a couple of great features on their website.  While at first glance it's nothing fancy, very basic - a few things really jump out at me. 1.  

What fun would a post about wine country and gorgeous scenery be without a picture post? Thanks to Amy for being our photographer extraordinaire. Here we go! Day 1.  Karen picked us up from the airport and we headed to visit a couple of smaller wineries in Healdsburg. First stop:  A Rafanelli - YUMMY Zinfandel!  Pricey, and they limit your purchase to a couple of bottles, but definitely worth the stop! Stop 2.  Arista - a variety of Pinot Noirs, and gorgeous grounds to walk around. We also visited Thomas George which was good, but not great.  I think I bought a Chardonnay from there.  Not normally something I go for, but it was light and crisp, a great summer wine at a good price. That was it for Thursday - the next two days were all about the race;  rest, hydrate and EAT! On Sunday we booked a limo to drive us around to all our wineries.  Karen and I spent a couple of days booking appointments and trying to find some off the beaten path Boutique wineries, endi

Finally sitting down to write my race report for the past weekend's Barb's race, aka Vineman, I struggle to put into words how I feel about the race.  While in total the race was a very very slight PR for the distance, I can't help but feel a bit bummed about a few things.  At the same time as feeling a little less than complete about it all, I also know there wasn't much more I could of done out there…. I'll start off by saying that the venue is STUNNING.  What better way to do what you love surrounded by stuff you love.  WINE!!!!  Even swimming in the super shallow Russian River surrounded by lush green trees isn't so bad :) I have always wanted to do this race.  Swim, bike, run, wine…. yup - pretty much made for me.  At first I just thought the big 70.3 race was the way to go, but then I found out about Barb's race.  Basically the same course, but all women and for a great charity; cancer research. Smaller race, all women;  I'm in! Unfortunate