Tri-Dogmom

I planned on signing up for my first Ironman after I successfully completed my first 70.3 in 06 (one year to the day post IT band surgery). I was thinking in 2008 when I would be turning 30 at the end of the year, but some friends convinced me, why wait?!  So,I caved an signed up a year early! We had a group of 7 of us racing, 5 first timers.  I chose CDA as it felt like "home" to me. Growing up in Spokane we spent the summer going to the lake as much as possible. I figured if I was going to swim that far in open water, it needed to be at a lake I loved and felt comfortable in. I had no goals going into the race other than to finish! The bike was my favorite part. The old bike course was stunning looping around Hayden Lake with treelined streets, views for days and rolling farmland. The run course was challenging. 2 loops, 2 out and backs. The first out and back was along the lake towards the river. This is where my childhood memories were! Next you went back through tran...

A few weeks ago Michelle threw out the idea of ordering our famous bat caps. She had these made about 5 years ago, and they were handed out at her choosing to athletes that did something special, out of their comfort zone. This something didn't have to be a swim (and still doesn't), but I did earn mine in the pool. Michelle flew out to AZ to train with a few of her local athletes for the first ever BSC camp. She stayed with Shane and I a few days before heading to Tucson to attend Hillary's SmashCamp so Shane & I got some bonus time with her. On our second swim with her, she learned, in person that I could in fact swim, but I must not be pushing myself enough because my times weren't all that impressive.  I don't remember what the swim was, but I remember this picture being taken after because I couldn't even lift my anything. I earned my bat cap that day. Unfortunately it wasn't silicone and didn't last, but in my head I knew I earned it ;) ...

It's been far too long since I've updated so in an effort to start fresh and hopefully keep updating this a bit more regularly I'll start with where I left off: September: Post IMCDA it was far too much work and not enough play, but the big highlight was welcoming our new baby V to our family. After the loss of Juliette, Zeko was so lonely. Every time we walked around town he tried to meet and greet all the dogs to find friends. We were at a loss as what we should do, then one of those right time right place situations presented itself... In the months after Juliette's passing, I was "mentoring" one of my athletes who was about to get her very first Vizsla baby and well, somehow, as fate would have it there was a special little girl for us to bring home as well...             Juniper, AkA, June-Bug traveled on her first and only airplane from AZ back to CDA to join our family. She's gorgeous, feisty, sweet, snuggly and the most playful tom-bo...

Another Ironman CDA in the books!  As per usual, the course handed all of us some fun obstacles to overcome, making this years race once again challenging just like I love! Leading up to the race I definitely had more on my plate than usual. "Moving" into our new house for the first time, the first several weeks were spent putting it together and constant work.  Shane took on the brunt of the manual (yard) projects, but it seems like we still have so much more to do!  Guess that's the fun of owning a 100 year old house.  Our pretty garden and landscaping will have to wait until next summer. My (day) job has just become crazy relentless.  I'd be lying if I said I was happy with it, and while I am in no position to leave my job, I am certainly trying to find a position internally that will (hopefully) lower my stress and give me more time to and energy to focus on doing what I love - working with more athletes and having more focus on my own training. Oh yah...

  I was thinking about this post yesterday , not sure if I made up writing it or if it actually existed. Pretty happy for (most) things saved on the internet! We didn't talk much about Juliette being sick, because honestly, she wasn't as far as we knew. She had been sporty spice going on most of the puppy walks (in fa ct hopping out of bed way earlier than normal to make sure she didn't miss out). Chasing him around, running around with her new lab friends and just loving life.    Last week she was having some problems in her mouth , was drooling and the puppy kept obsessing over it so Shane took her in on Friday and we found out she needed to have 4 teeth extracted. She's had some dental problems, but we've watched them closely so I was really shocked at the quick turn for the worse. She was sent home with antibiotics and after 2 days she was full of energy and even got to go to my race on Sunday! It was so fun to see her out there running ...