VOTE FOR DKT!

As many of you know I am racing for the Gear West Bike and Triathlon Team, not only is this a really awesome group of people, but its a store that supports its triathletes as people first, and racers second.

I have always had great respect for the folks racing on the development team, and especially bc David Thompson races locally when he can and isnt too busy to change out my cassette or give advice in a course.  He may be a super fast pro, but after the race, or sitting at his kitchen counter,  walking Henry, or hanging with his wife and my good friend, Hannah, David is a super triathlete but also an equally super person.

I am sure you all have your favorite pro's, but I hope you will consider voting for DKT in the Janus Charity Challenge:

Click here to vote for DAVID for the Janus Charity Challenge

P.S. Ruby and Henry say "VOTE FOR DAVID!"

Time for a break....

So what's new? I need a break!

No i dont mean this kinda break:

But i love me some Mickey D's ice cream cones and they DO stay open all winter. And seriously I am not that obsessed with ice cream even tho i tend to write about DQ and now McD:) But here's a secret, I do like Ice cream or Fro-yo MORE THAN CUPCAKES! Shh... I dont want my sister in law to hear that.

I mean this kinda break:

Get me a little beach time, Ok? Safely, not much sun tanning goes on with this body bc of the Melanoma stuff but still will be good to get out of here. This winter is grating on me. I have never felt like driving around the metro has taken so much out of me, but when you are getting snow and cold every day it makes driving tough not to mention running or walking outside. And that is that. I promised to not whine all post about snow and cold, bc I am sick of it, likely more than you are sick of reading about it.

So some fun stuff in the bullet point fashion:

*Still seeing Dr Josh for some hammering of my lateral hamstring and ITB.

It is sore for about 48 hours and makes me feel like i am going backwards but i know I am not. I even ran on the Alter G treadmill the other day. That is pretty darn cool. Hope to use it again soon. If you live anywhere near MSP, you gotta check out Dr. Josh and his amazing staff. You also can rent the Alter-G Tm at a very reasonable rate.

*Work is good. I love my seniors i teach, I just wish more of them would come to my classes. Its hard to teach people who have never exercised in their lives to want to all the sudden start. I cant say this is true of everyone but the people that keep coming back, despite knee pain or some pain are the one's that eventually tell me ( usually more than 3x in one class, hahaha!) That they "used to play golf and walk all 18 holes.." or " used to be a postal carrier and walked the entire route in winter weather just like today.."

To some extent i have no issue with people in their 80-90s who dont want to move. But to some extent i wish they would try, have faith or trust that they MAY feel better after 4-6 weeks of consistently moving a little bit. I Wont go into the entire behavior change model... not for this blog. But I still love those that are willing to give it a try, and those that arent, they just call me " the exercise lady." ha!

*Got some strength things up my sleeve. Not sure how that will play out but stay tuned. I am excited. I wish i had started sooner but... better late than never, I hope. Lotsa hoopla from a few bloggers that are turning 40 this year ( yesterday!) but i plan to be all stealth and turn 45 and pass you at the finish line ( or before). No really I am trying to look at the strength piece as good for me. Forget Tri ( seriously, just for a sentence or two, you can do it) and realize these years 40-50 yo, are pretty critical for strength maintenance.

Losing it? Yes we are. So GET ON IT and keep some strength.

Thanks to Carrie for that one.

*Family is good. I am so lucky to be married to the best husband i could ask for. Everyday his generosity and his love for me and my craziness, blows me away. That's all I can say on that, but trust me i have LOTS to say about him, I just cant put it on the blog.

* And last but not least I am a new aunt again. Cant beat that feeling. Here is my sister in law and my brother in law with their new son.

ACE....

And since we wanted Ruby to be the baby wrapped in a blanket, we let her try too:

I am not sure why she isnt sleeping like Ace?

New Year's Eve and 2010 recap

Well 2010 went out with a bang and so far, other some bike time, pancakes for brunch and windchills that made me happy to be inside for now, 2011 has been wonderful!

Last night we went to my parents house for dinner. This has become a nice tradition where we have lobster and have an early dinner and then go home to watch a movie and fall asleep in the middle of the movie. Last night didnt disappoint in the excitement for a few reasons...

1)The weather was iffy. They had forecast freezing rain but really never happened and other than scaring all the people who watch the news 24-7. The driving was fine, temps dropped and it got cold! When we woke up today windchills were -10 and temp was 2. hmm..

2)Luckily the weather held so my parents had4 live lobsters that they didnt have to try to eat alone..we cooked them up and sat down to dinner. My dad did a lovely job of draining them and cutting the claws and the tail so all we had to do was use our crackers and dig out the meat.

Somehow I was struggling to get the tail out of it's shell and when it did pop out it popped right off my plate and into a waiting mouth next to the table:

Yes Miss Ruby was planted next to the table and when that tail went airborne she did not miss a beat, and before i could even say "NO!" it was gone.

Happy 5th Birthday to Ruby! I didnt starve, and it wasnt her fault. We had a laugh, we shared the rest of the lobsters and Ruby was quite thrilled with her birthday feast. Even tho i dont think she even chewed it. And no butter:) To be honest Rich reminded me that I had let her smell the lobster and he thinks that she was ready to pounce and figured it was for her anyways:) Maybe she was right.

Then as if that was not enough i broke a glass, then while carrying it out ( the clean up) I managed to drop it again and more glass went flying. Yup. Butter fingers all night long.

To top it off I hugged my dad good night and said "Happy 2007!" WAIT?

two thousand seven sounds like.....

two thousand eleven???

And really, I had 1 drink before dinner and 1 glass of champagne...um....hello lightweight. I think i was just giddy and excited. I love ruby I love my parents I love my husband and we had a blast! ( and I do love Lobster!!!)

I have a longer post to do on 2011 and my intentions for the year. I dont do resolutions and have learned that when I "give something up," it makes want it that much more. Rules dont work for me. Goals and a path as to what I want to have happen in 2011 are far more valuable to me, and i like the idea that there can be a trend to how i live my life.

It isnt "At the end of this day, Did i fail or did i succeed?" It's more about the big picture and my overall happiness and health. It just works for me even tho, YES. I have to be reminded just like anyone else of the big picture. Like anyone I do get caught up in the little victories or the little defeats. But really that is all those are, in my opinon, my ego needing to be stroked for short term gratification. I know some people need to go cold turkey on stuff, but that never sticks for me. Seems like the right thing at the time but come 3 days i go "So why did i say i would do/not do that?"

As for 2010: Lots to be thankful for. It was a busy year. I wont be racing as much in 2011 which is ok....I trust the plan and the coach:)

Good friends and fun travels:

Pink Sox rock!

Tennis with the best and fittest dad out there:

A new team to play with, hang out with, and a great store that supports the local and national triathlon scene in so many ways. I cant wait to wear the GW colors in training and racing.

Ok that got a bit into 2011!

To Be Continued!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

It always makes me sad that we say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and then POOF! It's all over. I try to not let it just come and go like that. For example, lets leave the tree up for another month. Seriously. I love the lights, Why not?

And of course still wishing your loved ones, family, friends and co-workers a happy new year and good health...does that have to end on Jan 2? I hope not.

Anyways....lotsa fun pics....Pre holiday swims: And I forgot my phone so you dont get to see this suit on me, but i love it. It has gingerbread on the butt ( um, and spritz and sugar cookies and m and m's and...oh wait... you know what i mean) and Peace and Happy Holidays on the back side too. I may even wear it this week again.

This is why we arent grilling outside. Or swimming, for that matter.

Where's Waldo? Scroll down to find Waldo ...

Yes under that white fluff is Waldo. Our pool. Sweet, just named the pool. I am all about naming things, makes them more personal. Notice the diving board and the grill. No, we arent currently grilling much.

We had family pizza on the 23rd and hung out with Ruby. She had fun..or we did. Dressing her up in my scarf, and laughing way more than was warrented. A year ago she wouldnt have gone for this, and we are happy to say we think that Ruby has forgotten her depression days as a RAGOM pup when she was in a kennel with two other dogs and never had anyone to love on her.

Finally she gave me the "Where is my mom?" look. Her mom ( my mom) was out to dinner and i think Ruby was crying "uncle." And really we werent abusing her, she just loves it when we get down on the floor and hang with her, so I did:)

Christmas eve was fantastic and full of extended family at my parent's house. Lots of good humor, fun, giggles and memories of our family members that we miss so dearly. We try to keep those traditions alive:

Orange Jello ( with cool whip)

Christmas tree socks

Chocolate chip cookies for dessert ( in addition to the sugar cookies of course)

Beef Tenderloin...wait...not this year! Honey baked ham won out!

Red wine...wait...Julia made Cosmo's too...Just call me the " Enabler" and my cousin Ann who introduced me to the phrase " I want a tiny --TINI" cute! Ok, got it Ann!

Me: Ann: Heide ( my oldest sister)

Ruby got a flashing necklace....

Sisters!

Chippy's au apair, Janis, is from Bogota, Columbia and has never seen snow like this before. She ice skated, went sledding, and gave Ruby her fair share of love. Janis is fantastic, Chippy and Heide are so lucky to have her.

Kitchen Aftermath:

So....xmas eve was a success...we woke up and did it all over again.

Crack me up: the boys cant contain their excitement for the gifts Heide brought from her international travel, Eyeflaps, ear plugs and likely some booties for comfortable travel. Chippy put his headlamp on to better get a view of the loot:

Joe has found a new way to make it thru the school day:

His mom is the cupcake chef. I sent this pic to her and said we had her son hostage and she had tobring us cupcakes or we wouldnt let him go. Hmm. We havent heard from her yet. Anyone else feel that way about their 6 and 8 yo son's?

Willie in the background thinks the idea of his older brother being kidnapped is JUST FANTASTIC!!!

Brunch back at my folks...lots of fun stockings and presents and then back to our place for Xmas dinner with Weisbeckers and Mairs. What a great day! I hope you all had a restful weekend and Santa was generous to you and your's.

Cabin Bears!

Weekend started with a drive up north friday afternoon and then fish tacos chez cabin with the folks and my honey. Saturday dawned and we were off to a chilly and challenging double brick on the Grandma's course. Lets just say that we waited a bit, 9 am to be precise, to start since winds of 15-20 mph and a temp of 44 was not what i wanted. It was our weekend and we decided that other than a 4:30 pm party at another cabin and the lodge picnic we had all day!

The brick went well, windy, hard, honey was a trooper and stayed by my side as we loaded the bike in and out of the car for my 1st T run. It was cold. I had forgotten that "quads feel like ice picks" feeling. Toes cold and the reminder that my patients/residents with neuropathy have this every day. So i sucked it up! The 2nd bike was shorter, but harder, and off we went. The wind was there, but it really was just There and we both decided we were going to ride thru it and not let it bother us. Victory! After the 2nd run we headed back to the cabin as my sister had brought up a growler...of COLD PRESS!! ha! IT was delish. hot or cold, cold press is wonderful.

The rest of the weekend was spent napping, eating, resting, reading, hiking, visiting with family and friends, and running Ruby in and out of the Lake. There were a few ice bathes taken. And MY O MY, the river has cooled off significantly since august. I didnt dare go to the lake as i could tell from Ruby's temp that it was way below ice bath temp necessity.

We also found some new friends:

Our new bear "Elizabeth." Ok that isnt really her name but it's funny and is a dumb story so i wont tell you all. ( Eliz is my sister)

And as we left to head home, somebody was very sad to see us go:(

I got in a good hard swim at the lake today ( the lake meaning SQUARE LAKE) and yes indeed the temps there were dropping as well. I Didnt wear a wetsuit but if i hadnt been doing starts and sprints i would have needed one. My cool down was just that....a COOL DOWN and i was happy to be done.

Happy week to everyone and good luck to you all racing in Madison. You are gonna do great and I cant wait to cheer you on!