12K's of Christmas

Not sure what prompted me to participate in this event, maybe the holiday spirit, maybe all the team members participating, maybe just for the fun of a really tough workout. It happened to fall the day after the "forever" long swim practice. And on top of that we rushed to the White Christmas play at 5th avenue that was beautiful, then dinner, then over to watch the Kona Ironman 2009. As if all that wasn't enough to get into the holiday spirit we were up bright and early Sunday to do the 12K's.

(Can't resist a super fun group like this one!)

Last year we showed up for the race but the snowy winter and the icy streets caused the race to be cancelled, that really doesn't happen much around here.

I missed warming up, well if you count running around trying to find a bush to avoid port-o- potty lines then I warmed up, but not true get the heart pumping and ready to race warm up. Kirsten and I arrived to the start line about 3 minutes before the gun. Then it just happened that several other TNM athletes were in the same place, so there was more chatter than race focus, but truly that is what C, or D, or E races are for right?

Within 10 steps I was TIRED and hungry. Not a good feeling to have when you are climbing the first mile or maybe it was 3/4 of a mile. Truly I don't know, I just know that from the start it was not going to be pretty. So I put my "happy" face on and just ran. I cheered for my friends, I smiled the pain away, and the "good" angel helped me fight off all the "bad" angels thoughts of just wanting to drink a gallon of water, snuggling up in a blanket and eating everything in sight. Those prior days events had me wiped out.

(happy face!)

After nearly an hour'ish (I mentioned it was super hilly right?) the finish line was near, those last miles were flat and fast...for most...for me I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I truly did have fun. Fun seeing everyone, fun looking at crazy costumes, Santa didn't pass me like he did in Las Vegas, and joy of just getting a workout done and checked off the list. Even better it was a PR because I have never done this race nor a 12K so I will take it and just be more prepared next year.

(run away Santa and his wife - Kevin!)

What a challenging course though, and a reminder that hills, hills, and more hills are a necessity to my training in 2010. I guess I need to chase this man around a little bit more ;)

Here's to looking up and getting there a little bit quicker in the future!

TEN GRAND.

Ten Grand was a gift to myself this Christmas. I could only wish it was in $$, but nope, 10 buckaroos in the pool. Laura had a grand plan to organize the FAMOUS swim set of 100X100. Believe it or not 25 crazies RSVP'd to the event. We swam at an outdoor 25 yard pool and it rained the entire time, only noticed at the start and finish though.

(Type A'ers)

We all went into it a little apprehensive. My goal was to make 75 of them. I had the horrible sickies and only started swimming again the week of the event. So on Tuesday I did 2,000, Wednesday 3,000 and then Friday 5,000 in prep for the event. The workout was broken into sets of 100's and we took a 5 min break around 55 and 80. Let me repeat that we took a much needed, could not live without, survival 5 min break around 55 and 80.

The average send of for our group was 1:30-1:35. By number 70 I was a bit loopy. A little giggly and feeling a little out of sorts. Good thing we had coffee on hand. Shots of coffee after each 100 never hurt anyone right? Then at #80-ish, or so it was a mad dash to whatever food we had in store!

(So out of it!!! Notice the coffee on deck!)

Upon completing 100 a few swimmers/triathletes (not including myself) decided that wanted to make it a full 10K. Excuse me? What? an extra 936 or so yards.....hmm...I did a little math, that is nearly 20 more minutes. No thank you....I was out...and chowing and still giggling at the craziness of it all.

(Yeah! We did it all!)

Sad thing is, I will be back again! Thanks everyone who swam, watched, provided food and drinks, and for organizing. Exactly what I needed to get into the holiday spirit...sorta :)

Got the BOOT.

Friday December 18th marks the day that Mark gave me the boot. We had dinner plans and Mark decided we should open some "early" Christmas gifts because he had a hunch I would want to wear my gift that night. He pulls out a box of Frye's boots that I was hoping Santa would bring. I open them up and slide them on and click my heels around a bit on the kitchen floor. Mark asks me to take the boot off and starts feeling around in it, thinking maybe he left the recipt in the shoe (wink, wink). Then he looks through the boot box on the counter and says..."oh, the card, there is a card under the tissue there". I reach over and lift up the tissue and there is a ring, no not another Tiffany silver ring that I lost in previous posts, but a REAL ring. I just looked at him and with a little swelling going on in both our eyes he proposes.

(self portrait of my new ornament)

We then went out to dinner at La Rustica (amazing Italian restaurant in West Seattle) where Mark planned for a few of our close friends to join in on the celebration. Connie, Jeff, Christina and Darin. Thanks for sharing our special night with us!

Some additional highlights of the night:

The cat scratched at the door during the proposal so we ended up laughing off the tears.

Mark decided to purchase himself an engagement gift. A new watch, just so he would "always remember this day every time he looked at it".

It was all so real, so normal, and a day we will never forget.

And to Mark....looking forward to a lifetime....love you lots!

Hair Love.

I was super lucky this year to not have any major medical issues, however, it was at some costs. This year it was at the cost of my hair. New medication and n I was peeling a dead rat out of the drain on a daily basis. I have been cleared of these meds since September and am finally seeing some regrowth that isn't making styling very easy, but I will not complain....soon I will have a full head of locks again.

May 2009= Super THICK braids:

October 2009= Super SKIMPY braids:

December 2009= No Braids (cuz no racing), just some MAJOR flyaways:


Here's looking forward to new hair and hopefully a skin color change too!

CCFA

The coolest thing about the RNR Las Vegas Marathon is that is was sponsored by one of my top charities, the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. They are making huge steps to get the word out and to help control and minimize symptoms in children and adults. I love that they are now promoting health and fitness through their Team Challenge program (this one is specific to running). They now have bike rides, walking events and running events that help support the cause. Thank you to everyone that came out and supported. Check out the site and your local area, as you may have participated in some of their events without even knowing, or too, maybe it will encourage you to participate in an event you have not yet done. Thanks athletes!

Learn about CCFA. (click on chapters and events for biking, walking, and other events). PS. A couple of us will be working diligently to get this going into the triathlon community....you know who you are! :)

Coming and Going....

That has been my life. Out of town, in town, out of town. Race, train, race, train. Sick, healthy, sick, healthy.....six continuous weeks. No complaints about traveling and working out...love that stuff. But the third has really but a burden on everyday FUN lifestyle.

Last weekend was the RNR Vegas half marathon. Lots of fun. You start heading "away" (don't ask me North, East, South or West) from the strip and then turn around at less than a mile when you hit the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

Then you turn around and see the show of fireworks in the sky to the right and the other 25,000 people that have yet to to start the race. It is a straight out and back for the half marathoners, flat, fast and VERY entertaining as nearly half the crowd are those still out from the previous night, or at least acting that way :)

A few of us met up in the lobby of Mandalay pre-fight, I mean, pre-race. We scurried to the start line stopping for water, bathrooms, clothing check, herds of people, wondering how the heck to get to the start line. 25,000 people is not the easiest way to get anywhere in a hurry. We had 6 minutes to start time and still not even near the flood gates, we jumped fences, peed behind trees that were not quite big enough to cover my bum (good thing an unknown spectator was willing to hold up her jacket for our personal coverage), and with 1 minute to go we were in coral 1. I was a little disturbed that three volunteers (while in coral 1) asked to see my bib to confirm I was in the right place.....what'choo saying????? Ha, they were just doing their job I know :)

I knew my legs were tired from the Seattle half and too, I had been battling a cough and the cough was winning, but with over 15 friends participating in the event I couldn't say "no" to this weekend away. Also somewhere, when I thought this was a good idea, I believed that Vegas was always 70+ degrees, nope, 31 fun degrees for the race. I figured such a flat course would be GREAT for me since that is where I flourish, notice I said I flourish, not FAST, just faster for me. I started out right on pace, 7:10 ish, I just had to hold that (since my best time ever in a half is 7:15's), then progressively just got a little slower, and a little slower and a little slower, by mile 10 my legs screamed ouch and I fade to 7:20's, oops, just like the ironman I re-evaluted and figured I could settle for my second best time. Yep, that's what it was just a minute short of a PR. What followed after crossing the finish line was the hacking of myself and all the other participants from the super dry air, and the feeling of a bloody nose. This was not due to my sickies, but the air. I waiting just a few moments for a couple of my friends and we made our way over the, um, fancy-dressed Vegas girls....show girls...flamingo girls....what do you call them? We then scurried back to our rooms to unthaw our toes, nose, and hands, well, our body for that matter.

Note to self: Vegas gets cold...REAL cold and the air is D.R.Y. , oh and the race starts at 6:15 am.....woha!

The sickness has put me out now for 6 weeks, and personally, I am tired of hearing myself talk about it....all 2010 training is on hold. For some reason you need a healthy body to tackle the training.....hopefully soon. Real soon!

Antlers=Vegas Baby

We are here ready for the Rock n' Roll Las Vegas.

(Elvis, T, Matt, and H*)

There happens to be the national rodeo convention going on too. And we nearly died laughing as we were driving by the Paris hotel and saw this:

(Antler Chandelier for sale)

The humor comes from by buddy who did Ironman Canada this year and also finds opening day of hunting very much the equivalent to Christmas day. He just moved in with his girlfriend and had to cut a run short the day of their house warming party so he could hang up his antlers before the festivities.

I plan on wearing the chandelier over my head on the way home. I am sure his girl Jess can't wait!

So I truly thought the weather her was in the 70+ all year. And then the night before leaving Mark let me know that the high was 50. What? I signed up for this as an escape from the cold during the Seattle winter and now I will be racing in the same get up as last week at the Seattle half marathon. Good thing shopping is indoors (and there is a lululemon here too)! And really it is summer compared to the 20 degree temps in Seattle today. Yikes. Shop on!

Recovery spin...HA!

Is there a such thing as a recovery spin after 2 full months off of any bike, saddle, or two wheels that move?

It took an hour to get my act together to pull this 1 hour ride off. First...tires needed to be pumped, PSI 20....no joke:

It's a bit better than my other half's PSI of "Zip".

For some reason I couldn't get the trainer to work, yes, that is possible, the knob wouldn't turn right. So the mechanic in me had to go to work.

Then I hunted for the bike shoes. Searching, searching, searching. Then later found out they had been sitting right next to my bike. You see,Mark had one job for the day (in my mind), to make sure I got myself on the bike,so he went above and beyond and put the pedals on, pulled my shoes out and got it all ready for me. But my vision did not bother to take me to wear he put the shoes.

Next up, waterbottles! Except "no water". The condo faucets had been turned off to figure out some water leaks in the garage. "Great!" No way to jump back into training than to train without water (not EVER recommended BTW).

Then I hop on the bike...speedometer not on...still on race wheels. Oh well, I figured I really didn't need it that I know what cadence of 90 is. (later to remember that cadence is always on my bike, two different magnets, duh!).

I felt a little tired, but I kept riding, thinking it would get better. I checked my time at 2:57, yep, not even 3 min into the ride and I am wondering "how much longer". Next check at 24, then 45, then 51, then 53, 57, 59....nearly done!

What was worse was the chamois butter was no where to be found (still in the huge box we shipped from Kona). I have as many bottles of that stuff as I do lip gloss. As soon as you need it you can't find it anywhere. Getting back on the bike after 2 months has nothing to do with getting back in shape, it has everything to do with saddle tolerance.

I am officially back in the saddle, as is, the cat on the aerobars (she's missed this stuff!)

Thanks and stuff.

Thanksgiving left me baking some pumpkin caramel cheesecake (with some additional caramel on top), based on past experience I knew this was something I could handle. However, I had this little angel/devil hanging off my shoulder the entire 1:15 min that the darn thing cooked. Originally set the timer for 1 hour. At 55 min he (that is Mark) decided to open the oven to tell me that he "thinks" it may be burning around the edges. I jump up to find that what he though was burnt pie was actually the pecan gingersnap hand made crust crumbling to the side. The buzzer goes off at 1 hour. I check it...still not done so I set it for the an additional 10 min. It only took 5 min later for Mark to tell me I should check on it, just in case I forgot to start the timer and it was burning...ugh...back to the kitchen. Nope, 5 min later it still looked the same. Put it in for 10 more...Mr Mark Panic came back...nervous that I would mess it up. Have faith in your girl that only bakes once a year...you can do it. I pulled it out...for his sake, it could have gone a few more minutes,but man he was making me nervous. The finished product was delish'.

We spent the early afternoon with my mom and her boyfriend and had dinner number 1 of turkey, mashers, and apple pie with cinnamon ice cream...yum! Then we went and joined Marks family for dinner #2. All the same fixin's. Good thing we paced ourselves. The food was our much needed carbo load for the next two days at the Seattle Marathon Expo.

At the expo the legs killed. Calf cramps, aches, stretching, repeat...ouch! We luckily got a hotel room comped at the Westin for 2 nights so it made life a bit easier. The expo is always fun to meet some new vendors (loving the SPI Belts) and to see all the racers getting ready for the big day. The Seattle community is really very small so it is great to see runners I had not seen all year, and then those that I see nearly every day too!

Bri and I had a great time sporting the newest pink and white Gracies Gear tops and the ever popular Bondi Band hair decorations! I also had a marathoner who couldn't resist the great head gear.

Sunday was the big day! Big day as a coach and an athlete. Mark and I were nervous of our individual performance because really we have been some lazy fools, enjoying life, doing nothing structured and working like crazies. And two, because we are always shot after working the expos. I was super excited though to be racing with all of the TNM athletes (15+) that were out there on race day. I truly enjoy watching athletes race, but too, it is also fun to be "part of the action".

We were running late as usual, got to the race start, I had to go potty for the umpteenth millionth time, Mark needed to get front row seating. So we quickly went our separate ways. I let him know ahead of time that it would be okay if he wanted to run a little faster, that I would let him have this one!

With 7 min to race time I couldn't find any of the athletes I was hoping to run with. Instead I was in a panic mode trying to figure out where I could even get into the start coral. It was BUSY...herds of spectators standing around, confused people and who knows what. I pushed near the start line to get next to the fenced off area and jumped over the fence. I look to my left and see the man who was so anxious to get to the front right next to me...yep..it was Mark :) I once again explained to him that I was not going to start at a 6 min mile pace, so he could go right ahead.

As I stood up front, my run coach (who is also the announcer for the event), was talking with all of his athletes, talking pace and such. "Oh 5:30's or so", "6:30's I plan on holding", blah, blah. I know I have mentioned before but I am the odd ball out in this group. He looks at me and says "what's your plan?". Really, he wants to even acknowledge he knows me, does he really want to hear my goal in front of all these "runners". This could be the end of his career if they hear what I have to say. I whisper my goal time of 1:40. Nope, no joke, that would give me a 5 min Seattle half PR. He promises to announce that as my time at the finish, no matter what I finish in. Good coach!

I started out smart, smooth and under control. I knew I would get passed alot in the first three miles, I was all for it. The more that passed the better. They can zig zag passed me all they want, I just dont want to play frogger with others! I felt strong the whole way, had some minor quad cramping issues, but really nothing to complain about. After my second 1/2 of a gu I had a little colitis issue, but nothing that held me back. I ran and ran. I was fast on the flats, fast on the downhills, and literally killed on the hills. The same two people would pass me on the uphills (the girl in the black lululemon capris and the red dri fit and then the girl in the red Nike tempo track shorts with a white dri fit top) and I would repass them on the flats. Luckily the last 2 miles are a bit more of a downhill/flat so I finished ahead of my new two no-name friends :)

I was ecstatic to see a 1:38.55 as my finish time. A 7 min PR on this course. I can not walk today...but I wouldn't change it for the world. Mark had a 1 min PR. If I stay on pace this means in two year I can beat him!

My 2010 training started today and this race was exactly what I needed to finish off my 2009 race season.

I am thankful for the amazing Thanksgiving day we had with both families, I am thankful to have legs to run, feet to stand on, and friends to smile with. Happy holidays.

AZ recap.

This was my first time to Ironman AZ and we were in need of the sunshine! We arrived on Thursday night in surprise that there was a one hour time difference. Friday and Saturday were busy leading up to the race as usual, and I wasn't even racing.
Our great friend and athlete Connie was doing her first ironman. On Saturday I got into swim, and man that wet suit is tight. Training starts tomorrow, for sure! The water was cold, Lake Washington cold. 62 degrees cold. I hadn't experienced that temp in awhile and thought I could shake the ice cream headache, but after 12 full minutes I was done! Connie on the other hand was freakish with her training and dove into the Puget Sound a few times leading up to the race. She would describe the water as "pleasant". I would fully disagree.

The days were warm, a perfect temperature, the nights were cool enough to sleep under the fluffy comforters.

Maia (Connie's daughter) and I spent much girl time together. We made signs, got manis and pedis, studied the states and attempted the capitals and chilled while drinking lemonade ($2 refills)!

(Cherry Lemonade with Maia)

Race morning we had clothes for every temperature. We woke up at 4am and were off, with the uggs, the layers, the jeans, etc, by noon, in shorts and a tank and by 5pm back in the 4am clothing.

(Mark's mouth full of sunflower seeds)

Connie was the calmest I have seen anyone getting ready to do their first ironman. We wished her luck and hurried to scout out the perfect spot for spectating. We witnessed the start from the bridge overlooking all the athletes. Hot chocolate, a blanket and donuts killed the time to the start.

The athletes were off and then we ventured over to the bike exit. The athletes run far, real far in that transition area and then right as the exit they make a sharp left hand turn before mounting their bikes. There were so many athletes that bit it (the ground) right there, all happened to be men (insert double cough). Bikes were flying, shoes were looking to the sky, it was frightening to watch. Connie got on her bike with no problems and was off.

Loop 1, Loop 2, Loop 3, each one was stronger than the next. She raced, we ate, applied TNM tattoos, napped, and searched ironman live until the phone died.

The run was the same: loop, loop, loop, finish! It was so exciting to be so close to the action and so close by to help Connie when needed. She came back from a bonk and finished her last loop very strong. The finish line was like many of the other finish lines, which just the thought of one can bring a smile to anyone's face. It was filled with the bright lights, the fans, the kids waiting for high fives, and most importantly Mike Reilly's voice. It was exciting.

I was so surprised to see so many athletes that raced Kona out racing Ironman AZ, hats off to them. My bike just made it out of the box a few days ago and the pedals still are not attached.

Connie had an amazing race, an amazing day, and her family, friends, TNM athletes, and myself could not be more proud of her.

Ironman AZ was inspiring, it was exactly what I needed to witness, to be a part of to get the itch in me to get back going for 2010. Not one ounce of me wished I was racing, I am not ready for that, my body needs a ton of rest. I am excited to try a new swim group, to get back on the bike and to do a half marathon this coming weekend. We are back in Seattle, rain, cold and such. And just like a fireplace being lit up our indoor training is on fire.

Hunter

The headline tonight on the news: "Another storm is coming..."

And I am prepared!

It is cold, it is wet, real wet, it is pouring....not complaining, just not much going on except trying to stay dry. My swimming takes place during the times I run from work to the coffee shop and from the car to the track. Soaked non-stop around here. The Uggs came out after being in hiding, however, they couldn't last in the storm. So the highlight in this past week are my new boots!

I even got matching fleece socks for the inside, so they nearly feel like Uggs, my best purchase in a long time, next to the luggage.

.Bring on the puddles and as soon as it dries up I will get back into the pool!

PS. The bike woke up from the box yesterday...I see some cycling in my near future.

Event Planner.

Event Planner. This has been my new title this past week. Post Halloween things got busy. More because this procrastinator works best in that sort of mind set.

Chris Lieto called on Saturday night wanting to speak to athletes in Seattle. This is great, but we had 4 days to plan it and the goal was to get 150 people. 200 people later (we stopped counting!) the event was fantastic. Not because of Mark and I, but because Lieto gave an absolutely fantastic presentation about his race this year at Kona. He described the race in detail making everyone that was not there really experience the sights, the sounds, and the heat! He talked about what he did differently and how his mindset was completely different. Audience participation was a must as he had us practicing our own visualization and going in our minds how we shower off each morning (you must attend a presentation to understand that one). And most importantly explained how he can race in a white spandex outfit!

Mark at RRS (well my b-friend too) did an absolutely fantastic job getting this event to go off so smoothly. RRS should be very happy to have him as a staff member because without him the store would not be at its finest! Thanks to Chris, Mark and all the Seattle athletes who came together for this night!

Post presentation, it was full on planning for our Saturday night TNM team party. My only real job was to get the evite out which was done, order the cake, and put together a speech. #1 got done early on, #2 was a disaster, got all the way to Costco in the rain/wind storm in Seattle (that needs to be added because getting anywhere in Seattle is twice the challenge) and arrived without my wallet, my id, anything. So 40 min wasted. #3 I put together on the way to the event. I thought it was good, Mark kept swinging at my leg during the talk to tell me I was talking to much :) Wine, no wine, I would have said the same things!

I could not have pulled this off solo. Amanda opened up her beautiful home to us, her husband did all types of chores so she could get her workouts in day-of-party, Beth put together the below video that would have taken me a over a year to figure out, Bridget (my co-coach) arrived on-time, unlike yours truly, and did all the dirty work. Mark, as usual, kept the crowd entertained until the late nights! And of course the team, couldn't have a party without the amazing athletes!

Congrats to everyone this year. Many more smiles and miles to go for 2010!

Spooky.

We traveled to a spooky mansion:

With spooky food:

And a spooky (unscripted) play that ended in gunfire:

With a spooky man:

(Army Ranger with the highest badge of honor, that somehow was stitched on upside down!)

And the spooky pigtails and Mr Nelson (the monkey) scared him off!

(This costume came full on hooch that I had to learn how to sew to add on four inches of fabric and add a dress underneath)

Thanks Ashmun's for a fantastic party. Met some super friends that encouraged us to travel to New Zealand, good thing there is an ironman there!

Doughman 2010

After Ironman Canada I received an email from an athlete that claimed she wanted to withdrawal her 2010 Canada entry for this race. My eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets and I read the email again and then immediately reached for the phone for a heart to heart-without clicking on the link. Suddenly I stopped myself, thought for a moment and decided to find out what race could possibly be more important for this athlete than Ironman Canada.

Nope, it was not April Fools, but if it were she would have gotten me REAL good. Since then I have saved the email and decided today to wonder back too it. I found entertainment in the video, and the race shirt, and when clicking on the race details they have a training program for participants. One that may not be too challenging to follow. In fact, off season is the perfect time to train for this one. Hope all of you find as much humor in this race as I have and thanks to the fine athlete that keeps me on my toes!

Nike Human Race 10K

Saturday was the day the world ran. This event is for EVERYONE and then in select cities Nike puts on organized races. The catch- 1. must own the Nike Plus system and 2. must be computer literate. You download your time and then you are placed amongst the world for your 10K race. I do not fall into either of the above categories....I just wanted to RUN!

Our super great sponsor Road Runner Sports (Greenlake) was hosting one of the organized runs. Mark's alarm went off at 3:45 in the morning to "finish" things up. He ran the 10K with the mile markers, using his handy dandy hammer to dig the signs into the ground. Then he hurried back to RRS where the DJ had the jams rolling by 6:30 am. The cops arrival was a bit of a surprise due to noise disturbances. But that DJ really kept things exciting for packet pickup at 7am.

(T, Chuck, Betsy, Nat, Rebecca)

Everyone got their Nike run tops WITH their numbers printed on them. Lots of photos and we walked over to Green Lake for our 10K (2 loops). The weather is changing fast around here as you can see the fog lifting off the ground and ourselves, having to hold our breaths for photos (NO- not to look thinner, but to make sure it didn't look like we were smoking pre and post race).

Mark hammered the "start/finish" line into the ground and explained the directions one more time. He did one loop (as fast as he could PRing in a time of 17 minutes), because he was the aid station volunteer too and had to make it back in time to fuel up the 170 athletes.

(the organizer, the announcer, the aid station volunteer, MY everything!)

I had a goal in mind for this race. I had done nothing more than a 30 min run since October 10th, in fact, I am not even sure on October 10th I did a 30 min run...but whatever. I wanted to negative split the run. And that I did. One minute faster on the second loop. I was only 1 min off my best 10K time. That doesn't say much however, my best time was done on Mercer Island which has some great hills and rollers and there is nothing flat about it, where Greenlake is as flat as a skating rink.

(kicking up the smoke. Ha!)

Post Race was AMAZING. There was more goodies (food and freebies) than that of the Ironman World Championships. I think nearly everyone that showed up won something and the grand prize was Nike shoes, Ipod Nano, Nike plus watch, plus the Nike plus system (Yes, one single person wins this!) I am not sure I even see that many gifts under a Christmas treee. It just so happened to be one of Marks super good buddies....hmmm...that took home the grand prize. What cracked me up even more was the fact that since he won his significant other decided it was time to shop! Not sure why Mark couldn't have pulled his girlfriends name? J/K.

(Super Cool TN Multisport Athletes)

Road Runner Sports Greenlake and the Nike staff on hand did an absolutely fantastic job and I highly recommend this event to everyone. It was fun, very well organized, and with how much of a great sponsor and store RRS is you can never go wrong with their events.

(the best finish shot!)

Thanks to TN Multisport athletes for coming, supporting and racing (you all did really well...in fact everyone PR'd minus but coach T), to RRS for everything you do, and to Nike for the fun event.

Really? For a Cat?

Seven years ago. I got two baby kittens, not sisters, just to little kittens smaller than the size of my size 8 shoe. I would lose them in the house they were so small, so quiet, so precious. One remains this way, well just about 6 pounds heavier, but for the most part is a gem. The other is that way 50% of the time. The 50% of the time during daylight hours. I am living as if I had a newborn, a kid, a newborn kid....at least from what I am told.

Mark and I take turns sleeping on the couch to take care of our ever needy, loud, scratching through the night cat. No, she is not in heat, been completely ruled out (after hundreds of dollars in tests). First diagnosed with anxiety, now depression. I can tell you the medications are doing NOTHING. We put a bike box in front of the main door EVERY night, then we have a night light on too. We have gone to the extreme of sleeping with the lights on, of sleeping on the floor next to her while she cries, you name it, we've done it.

(preparing for her rendezvous tonight)

So with today being a new day, we got new cat drugs. Vet already warned that at no point would this be a magical cure. I don't think she understands that is what we NEED. So I made a point today to not let her sleep, nope, if we can't sleep neither can she. I am forcing her to play and in her drugged out state she doesn't want to. If this doesn't change by next week I am officially doing all my training from midnight to 3am so she can cry through the night and I can be out and about. Then sleep through the day. I will live the life of an animal.

Really? Is this what it has come to? She is taking over the house...soon she will have a new apartment....this girl knows how to work the system for sure!

Lucky thing she is loved so much.

Backyard Run Beauty

(new race hats)

In between rain showers I decided to get up and go on a run. Not because I was dying to run or anything, but because this is the one week of all year where I have no plan, no agenda, just do what I want, when I want. I decided after soaking in all the beauty of Hawaii, I needed to share the beauty of the Pacific Northwest with everyone. And the new TNM race hats arrived so I had to "test 'em out" :) The handy dandy sweat proof camera landed right in my sport top and I thoroughly absorbed every view of the fall. So much that I couldn't help but smile as I ran (that could also be because the garmin was dead, within 5 minutes, but oh well). Here is my run on Alki....a 7 mile stretch if you go all the way to the end where the cars load onto ferry boats to travel to different islands.

(gorgeous long straight path)

(Mini trail off the normal path)

(Most beautiful yellow tree of the day)

Then you hit the scenic water views:

The way home I always stop by the kitty adoption center and take a peek. I want to bring them all home with me!

Today was beautiful. I ran at my Ironman Hawaii 2009 race pace so as you know I had a lot of time to enjoy the leaves on the ground, the smell of the clean air, and to take photos to share with you!