Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

I MUST be on vacation….

*workout: run 3 easy miles and walk 1 with the dogs

Yesterday we went snowshoeing under the most brilliant blue sky. It was so beautiful with the snow glittering and the sun shining.

Then we bundled up and headed out to the stables for a horse drawn sleigh ride.
It was really cold but so worth it to drool over the horses.

We then made it home where I promptly pored myself a glass of wine and got a head start on my resolution to learn to cook.

I used this recipe to make “healthy” clam chowder with rustic garlic bread.

It turned out really good!

This year I am staying in, to have cake and champagne. I have to be up at 6:30am to run a very snowy, cold half marathon and I am really looking forward to it. What are you doing tonight?

Happy New Year everyone!

2010 recap and 2011 resolutions

This past year has been ridiculously good to me, I really couldn’t have asked for more. It started out with a plan to run our first half marathon that led to lots of boding time for Cory and I during our training runs. We were ridiculously proud of ourselves after each of our long training runs. After each we would proclaim “that’s the longest we have ever run”.

First race with chip timing Snowman Stampede.

This was our first winter in Colorado and we wanted to have a way to enjoy the mountains. Since we don’t ski or snowboard we decided to take up snowshoeing and LOVE it!

After twisting my ankle on a snowy trail run, I was forced to take a short break from running. At the time I was very upset but like most things, it was a blessing in disguise. We started swimming and biking while I couldn’t run which naturally led to us deciding to take on triathlons.

One unforeseen highlight of 2010 was deciding to buy a road bike, I still can’t believe how much easier it is ride than a hybrid or mountain bike.
After getting my road bike we decided to ride our first major bike race, a metric century at Elephant rock. It was so much fun!

During this time I got a major promotion at work. Honestly it wasn’t exactly a promotion, a position about four levels above me became available and I applied on the suggestion of the vice president of the company. I honestly wouldn’t have applied if she hadn’t told me that I should. Each time I got an interview, there were a total of three, I was shocked. When they offered me the job I couldn’t believe it. Still six moths later I can’t believe they had/have so much faith in me and trust me to lead so an amazing group of people.
Over the summer we competed in a few triathlons and started training for a September marathon. Unfortunately I hurt my knee and had to take a very difficult 2 months off of from running. Truth be told a teetered on the edge of depression, it is hard to believe how important this sport has become to me in such a short time.

In mid September I was able to start running again slowly, it was hard to struggle running 4 miles when before I was hurt I was running 15. I am happy to say that I have been able to run consistently this fall without too much pain and will be running a half marathon on new years day. I can’t think of a better way to start 2011. I am excited to work towards the goals I have set and the new adventures we will take on along the way.

2011 resolutions:

I know some people don’t like resolutions but I very openly LOVE them. There are a few race/health related things I would like to work on in 2011:

1. Prepare more healthy meals (Cory is our main cook, I would like to start cooking about twice a week)

2. Work on my core, I know my core is weaker than it should be so I plan on doing plank every night in January and will move on from there

3. I would like to PR in a 5k, 5M, 10k, half marathon and marathon. This should be easy given that last year was my first year racing and I only ran one (maybe 2) of each race and I have never ran a marathon, guaranteed PR =)

4. Work on sticking to my training plan. I know there are times I won’t be able to stick to it because of outside influences, but when I just don’t feel like it, suck it up!

5. Take off a few pounds (10-15) I am not technically “over weight” but I know that being lighter will be easier on my joints.

6. Be better about blogging (i.e. more consistent, better pictures, etc.)

7. Run 1,000+ miles

**more specific goals will come is the form of my monthly/weekly goals

What a difference a year makes

This time last year we were in the same place (SunRiver) for New Years. It seems like longer than just one year has passed. A year ago I could barely run two miles, and couldn’t run the January portion of the winter distance series, Frosty’s Frozen Five & Ten, because I couldn’t run five miles. This is where I talked Cory into training for and running our first half marathon. In fact we put together our training plan on our drive home.
Cory, Erik(my brother) and I at the Horsetooth Half Marathon:
(This was all of our first half marathon, although Erik has completed two marathons before so I am not sure if it counts)
It’s funny to sit in the exact same place as last year and reflect on how different life is now.
Today we visited Sunrivers’s mall, where we will cross the finish line of the Pacific Crest half ironman in June. I can’t believe we will be back in less than seven months for our race…..GULP!
My mom who has finished both the 5 and 10k portions of the race showed us where the finish line will be

Hopefully it will be warmer on June 25th =)

Snowy Run

Cory, my mom and I went for an awesome snowy run this morning. I am not sure how far we went but it took us about an hour and 45 minutes (I think we were running 15 mm, don’t laugh). The snow was 6 inches to a foot deep in most places so it was a great workout and BEAUTIFUL!



Why am I SUCH a dork???




SO much fun, best way to start a Wednesday!

Goals


I love goals, I live by them and really enjoy setting them. One thought that has been floating around my head is being more intentional and having more accountability for the goals I set for myself. So I think I will Copy Goals For the Week (love your blog!!) and write weekly and monthly goals on my blog. I will try to do this every Monday for my weekly goals and near the first for the month. How do you feel about goals/resolutions, do you set them and/or write them down?
My goals for this week are:

1. Do something active everyday even if it’s just a walk with my dogs
2. Eat healthy foods, and eat in moderation. Just because I am on vacation doesn’t mean I need to eat like a piggy.
3. Take time to reflect on 2010, and think about what I really want in 2011.
4. Relax and enjoy my time off.

I will also set (hopefully) attainable resolutions. My big goals are to finish three big races:
Full Marathon in May
Half Ironman in June
50K in October

A non-athlete resolution is to landscape our front and back yard. I don’t know when we will find the time but we will get voted off our block if we don’t do something soon.

This week Cory and I are on vacation, after hosting Christmas at our house we need it. So we left Denver yesterday morning and arrived in Sunriver (near Bend Oregon) this morning. It’s beautiful here.

There are miles and miles of trails so it’s perfect for active people. This is also where all Pacific Crest races end =)

I am looking forward to snowshoeing, snow running and relaxing. I am really excited about the half marathon that Cory and I are running on New Years day. The race is described as:
“The Huge Ass Half
13 miles (half marathon). Starts with a 4 mile out and back plus one counterclockwise 9-mile loop.
BEST SUITED FOR: Those who have slacked over the holiday and only worked on expanding their ass and need a jump start. You’ve been procrastinating to begin training because “it’s so cold and snowy in Central Oregon.” After completion, your ass is still pretty big but it might not jiggle as much as before.”

I hope everyone is having a wonderful relaxing last week of 2010!

Thank you Jess!!!

I got a gift from my secret blog buddy Jess from Run Jess Run, thank you so much, I will definitively put it to good use!

Here is Winston modeling it, I really think he has a bright future as a male model…he calls this look “sleepy pug”

Rudolph’s Revenge

Rudolph’s Revenge was not a great a race for me. I ran the first two miles at sub 8 mm but then I had the WORST asthma attack I have ever had in my life and ran the last mile in over 10 minutes. I am talking fall down to the ground gasping for air right after crossing the finish line and having race officials seriously threaten to call an ambulance. Not cool. But it was really fun to race again with my family. My mom and Cory did great. Mom to first in her age group (go mom!) and Cory took fourth in his, only 2 seconds behind the third place finisher, his time was 21 min and I can’t remember the seconds. My time was 26:57 landing me at 8th in my AG out of 77, given the circumstances, I will take it.

Today I am hosting a work “meeting” at my house, I use quotations because there will be drinking. I made sangria, I hope it’s good!

I spent all day Sunday and some of yesterday making home made candy for my team, including; salted caramels, walnut fudge, dark chocolate truffles and peppermint bark.



Finished candy gift boxes

Today is my last day of work until after new year (YAY!) can’t wait to really start enjoying Christmas. Happy Tuesday!

What’s in a name?

I have been thinking lately that the name of this blog is a bit of a misnomer. Maybe in the new year when I can focus on training again then I will talk more about triathlon training but for now it’s just not. I suspect that even after the holidays I will talk about more than just training. I am sure my house, dogs, family and work will sneak it’s way in.

Tonight I am going to hubby’s holiday work party, it’s a fun chance to dress up and eat expensive food on someone else’s dime, can’t beat that. But that means that I will be out late so I probably wont get up early(4:20am is the norm) to work out. This will be three days in a row of no working out, it is starting to get to me, but there is just too much else to do. I haven’t even started my Christmas cards or making salted caramels and liquor infused truffles as Christmas presents for my staff.

Oh and by the way, we had basically no snow last night, what a disappointment for me and thousands of Denver school children.

Snow is coming!!

I am so excited, snow is coming today! I still get as excited as a child about snow, I even love running in the snow. Proof:
It’s feeling more and more like Christmas, I have bought and sent my gift to my secret Santa blog buddy set up by Jill, thanks Jill!

I am hoping to meet Jill at this weekends race, I will be in these socks:
seriously, I have no shame.

Happy Wednesday!

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