Hammerman & Inspiration

Inspiration can come from many places.  Some get it from professional athletes, things on TV.  I'm lucky to be able to get my inspiration from the awesome people I am surrounded by.  I guess I'll recap the Xterra Hammerman race first.  Since my shoulder injury I went from a solo triathlete to a team.  Todd was our swimmer, a friend from work Nate Eastman was our biker and I did the run portion.  We did awesome.  Todd swam well, Nate knocked the bike out and I ran just ok.  We ended up 3rd in our division.  My highest finish ever.  Kikkan Randall ( yes the olympic skier) was on the first place team, The bikers from the Trek store were on the second place team.  So with those teams finishing in front of us I'm considering it a victory!

Team Nateapodd!  3rd place coed team Hammerman 2015

My good friend and coworker Sarah Moore won our age group!  I say our because it's the age group I would have been in had I raced as a single.  I'm coming for you next year Sarah!  I'm so proud of her I know how hard she's been training.  Our other friends did great also.   It was so nice to have such a great turnout of folks from our team.

The ANMC Crew

Another great happening is my friend Sara Sayre ran the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler.  This is a 100 mile trail race.  What an accomplishment.  It's truly an achievement as not too many folks attempt this much less finish it!  She'll now be sporting a new belt buckle that not many other people in the world have.  Great Job Sara!  This young chick has quite an athletic resume and is a great example to young runners everywhere.  Oh and she's a pretty good little nurse too!

Sara Rockin 100 miles!

This was a great weekend.  It is the first weekend I have not worked in a long time.  Racing with my husband on a weekend I'm off is such a bonus.  He's such an awesome husband, racer, coach, and my biggest inspiration and supporter.  I can't say enough how great it is to have someone who truly believes in you.

Post Race hugs

Well, there ya have it.  A recap of a lone weekend off! Quite eventful.  It's back to the work grind next weekend. 

70.3 Training and Fishing Fun

Sometimes it's hard to balance life when you have a big race in mind.  I feel this even more than normal this go around because it's a bigger race than I've ever done and I'm starting off with an injury.  I think it's important to remain positive about the situation and continue to move forward with what you CAN do.  What you can't do, you'll eventually be able to. It's all about having fun, pushing yourself and learning on the journey!


FISHING KENAI

Days off from training are important mentally and physically!  After all, I do live in Alaska and there's a lot of fun to be had.  This week was week 4 of my training plan which is a recovery week.  So I had a little bit of reduced workouts and a couple days off completely.  As an Alaska resident I am able to dip net for salmon on the Kenai river.  I had never taken advantage of this Alaskan privilege and  since I had a day off and a couple great friends who asked us to go fishing it was time.  It was a little rainy (ok a lot rainy) at first, but it ended up being a great day.  Not too much sun, not too much rain.  Warm enough and super fun.  Fishing was a little slow, but we still got a few fish to put in the freezer.  Not only was it good to get fish to eat all winter, it was a great experience.  As I was sitting on the boat waiting for the next fish to come aboard I was looking out at the beautiful scenery and thinking to myself that I'm so lucky to live here and be able to have these kinds of experiences.  Some people wait their whole lives for a trip to Alaska and I get to wake up to her beauty and experiences every day.  It was a long day on the river, but such an awesome day.  Thanks so much to our friends Brad and Mary who asked us to go along.  Here are pics from the day on the river!

Me fishing standing in the Kenai River

Captain Brad

Mary and Todd working hard

Look at that beautiful meat.  Thank you mother nature for what you provide

The boys working hard at cleaning fish

Todd Being Todd

Last catch of the day.  Mary's Baby Flounder...who was returned to the river to grow!

TRAINING NOTES

On a positive training note for the week today I tried swimming for the first time since my injury.  It went very well.  I wouldn't say I'm able to fully extend and really pull a lot of water, but going through the motions isn't painful so I'm going to call it a success!  Thanks to my friend DeAnn for asking Todd and I to go out there with her.  Who knew it would be such a positive for all of us.  Tomorrow will be DeAnn's first open water swim race.  She's going to do great.  A natural swimmer!  Here are a few pics of us from the day.  Fun times.

Todd, Myself and DeAnn Entering the water

Me and DeAnn Post Swim trial

Situations are what you make of them

An update handwritten at the cabin and now transferred here.  A few thoughts...

It's been about a week since my shoulder injury.  It's such a nagging thing.  It aches, then sometimes is sharp.  It reminds me every minute that I'm not much good with my left hand.  I was able to do a brick workout on Tuesday normally though before we left for the cabin.  It was my first attempt at running since the bike crash.  It was really OK so I'm quite excited that the only thing I'll be falling behind in is swimming.  What's the point of all this?  Situations are what you make of them.

It's Wednesday and we're out at the cabin since yesterday 6/30/15.  Last time we were here it was 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky.  We swam, built the deck, etc.  Probably one of my favorite times at the cabin and in Alaska period.  This trip, it was really windy leaving lake hood.  Let's just say Todd got to swim in Lake hood again.  His favorite thing!  He was right though, once we were airborne we were good to go.  Yesterday was good.  Overcast and 60 degrees.  Just did some relaxing since we got here in the afternoon.  Had a nice steak dinner.  I mean steak perfection...it was good!  Today it's overcast and about 50 degrees.  Todd went for a swim, started to cut the grass and noticed one of the tires was pointing in the wrong direction.  Short mowing session turned into a pain in the butt.  Thank God Todd is so handy with things and is good at almost everything!  Now it's 40 degrees and raining.  So we decided to nap, sleep in, and read books.  Gotta adapt! :)  The nap was so awesome and much needed for me at least.  Then, we put on our rain gear and went fishing.  My hands got cold, but we caught some fish for dinner.  We came back and while Todd filleted the fish I cleaned the kitchen up and made some peanut butter cookies for dessert.  Ok so many details, but again, what's the point?  Situations are what you make of them.  For instance...

Injury
Yes, it happened on day 2 of my training plan.  After having to drop out of this very same race before.  I haven't been able to go about training as I'd like, but I'm doing what I can.  Yes, it hurts, but it's going to hurt anyway, so what...go to work, work out, and do what I can.  Focus on everything I can do vs. what I can't do. 

The Cabin
Last time was amazing, this time it was cold, rainy, etc.  It's STILL GOOD!  I'm here with my dogs and a man that loves me more than I could ever imagine...it's not all bad people.  Plus, sometimes it's nice to just relax, catch some fish in the rain and nap.  Things changing keeps things interesting.  It's what life is all about.  It constantly changes.  I think you have to make a conscious effort to decide to be happy no matter what's going on .  Don't get me wrong, it's ok to be sad, mad, frustrated at times in certain situations, bad things will happen.  I think it's when you start living like that is where it's toxic.  Not only to you, but everyone around you.  Make a choice to always make the best of things and you'll be happier for it. 

At one point in my life, for quite a while someone in my life made me think my positivity was a negative thing.  I'm so glad I didn't let that person completely drag me down. Although they did succeed for a while!  It can happen to anyone!  Now, I'm amazingly happy, back to who I really am and who I've wanted to be and that person is probably still searching for some sort of utopian life that doesn't really exist.  My life is not perfect, but I'm pretty darn content. 

Once again, what's the point??  Be happy!  Quit waiting for certain things in your life to happen, or a certain date, to marry someone, divorce someone, etc.  Choose to be happy where you are now.  We only get this one life.  It's too short to spend it any other way. 

A few pics from this cabin trip.

ranger and bree headed out for an open water swim..chasing Todd who's way in front.

ranger helping me fish

Longhorn 70.3 Prep

My triathlon friends will know what the title of this post means. For my "normal" friends (haha).  70.3 is a 1/2 Ironman.  140.6 would be a full Ironman.  As far as I'm concerned I still cannot fathom doing a full Iron distance race.  Anyway, so I'm going to do Longhorn 70.3 in Austin on November 8, 2015.  My history with the longhorn began last year.  I was scheduled to do the race and had to drop out in the middle of my training due to an injury to my back that I needed to let heal.  The truth is I will probably always have to be careful with my back.  I have been seeing an awesome PT at Advanced Physical Therapy in Anchorage and I've really been feeling quite good!  I decided that I need to redeem myself and do this race.  So, I requested the vacation time, have been doing some pre-training stuff and am feeling really good.  So after a couple months of thinking about it I signed up. 

I've never been one to quit anything or give up because something gets tough and I don't plan on starting now.  I was feeling so good, training coming together, ready to get started on my official training plan.  So day one I ran a course that when I first started I ran in about 47minutes, with some alternating walking, etc...well, this time I ran it in about 30 minutes.  Talk about a confidence booster!  Also had a nice swim in the lake with Todd and another friend.  A great start!

The next day I'm slated to do a 1.5 hr bike ride.  I decide to get outside because it's summer and you get enough trainer time in winter.  Head out and ended up going about 1hour and 50 minutes just because that's where the loop took me.  The way back got interesting!  First I see a dead black bear on the side of the bike trail that wasn't there when I went out.  Thought about taking a picture, but no!  Then the last mile the guy was cutting grass so there was grass, sticks, and other debris covering the trail.  I'm about 50 yards from the parking lot and I swerve to miss a stick.  My tire slides on a large wet leaf and I lose control.  It happened so fast I have no Idea what actually took place.  All I know is I was laying on the sidewalk a little bloody and my right shoulder is killing me.  At first I could just lay there hoping no one was watching me, but definitely in pain.  I don't think I've ever stayed down after any sort of injury that long.  My shoulder was by far the most painful.  I thought it may be dislocated or even broken.  Can't say I've thought something like that too many times in my life.  I felt it and knew that it wasn't dislocated.  I got to my feet and still throbbing in pain I picked up my bike with my left arm.  I go to get on my bike to coast into the parking lot and realize that my tire is facing one way and my aerobars the other.  Hmmm no more riding right now.  It wasn't rolling either bc my brakes were pressed into the tire on one side.  While balancing the bike on my body I used my left hand to center the brakes so the bike would roll.  Voila' it worked.  So I hobbled my bike back to the car, got in and drove myself home.  All the while my shoulder is still throbbing.  I could move it through a full range of motion though, so at least no dislocation! 

My friend who happens to be a doctor was already supposed to be meeting me at the house after my ride.  I asked her to come over and patch me up a bit.  There were scrapes on my right shoulder and elbow that I couldn't wash the grass and dirt out of myself so she graciously washed them out for me.  Besides for pain I did notice that there was a slight prominence of my right distal clavicle.  Now, making a longer story shorter I texted my orthopedic surgeon friend, got an xray and basically she said I have a grade 2 shoulder separation.  Pretty much a bad sprain.  7-10 days full immobilization and 4-6 weeks for healing....NO TIME FOR THAT! 

So talk about feeling a little defeated in starting my new training plan.  I did take today off to do some resting and icing and pain control, but tomorrow I'm going to put the bike on the bike trainer and show that bitch who's boss!  I'll be riding upright because putting pressure on the shoulder is not good at this time.  So basically I'm going to do what I can when I can until I can get back to full training.  Riding the trainer,  running and swimming when I'm able.  Swimming will probably present me the toughest problem with the shoulder, so I'll wait on it till I'm really ready.  No need to re-injure or continually aggrivate things. 

Here's the xray.  Notice on the right side how the clavicle is elevated...bummer. But at least it will always stay that way...kind of a cool scar without the scar. haha.  And check out that amazing heart and lungs.  Most xrays I look at do not look like this.  haha

I talked with an old friend about it and she said something that I really like.  Champions Adapt!  She's right.  I'll adapt my life and training plan to keep on moving and finish my race in November.  The good news, my back feels ok.  If it can sustain a crazy fall like that going 20mph or so I hope I can count on it. 

Well, that's it for now.  Back to training tomorrow.  Because Champions Adapt!  Thanks Saundra!

Lake Trip Summer 2015

Once again as usual I've gotten far behind so I'll describe some things that are fresh and just use some pictures to hit the hot spots of the rest!  One day I'll make the time to just keep up with this stuff.  

Erickson Lake trip

This last lake trip was so awesome.  First of all we both needed some time together and away from work.  It was a really amazing Alaskan summer lake visit!  Temps were in the 80's which to me felt surprisingly hot.  I'm definitely not a Texan anymore.  I was dying!  The sky was an amazing blue for 19 hours a day!  We truly enjoyed ourselves immensely.  The dogs also had a great time.  I'll just let the pictures tell the story on this one.

We love our cabin and hope that we can make many more memories there!

Last 2015 Lake Ski Trip

April 2015

In 2014 we bought a little cabin on a remote lake and right after my husband of course I am in love with it.  Both summer and winter it's just a great place to be.  Fly in only, not another soul around, just peaceful tranquility.  The pups love to go too.  You ask them if they want to go for a plane ride and you better be ready to go.  If you're not while you get ready you trip over 2 very large dogs everywhere you go in the house.

The most important thing upon arrival.  Make a drink!

Once we get the plane all loaded, we just open the door and in they jump!  They're getting better at just curing up.  They know when we're coming in to land and they are ready to sprint out of the plane.  In the winter they jump out onto the lake and just run all over.  In the summer to get in the plane they will walk the floats...when getting out it's a little more of a splash!  They go straight to swimming up a storm.  It's so much fun to watch them have so much fun.  I'm so glad that Todd and I both love dogs so much and that we are able to provide a home for them with so much dog fun.

A few pics from our last trip.  About Ranger on the snow machine...usually we run the machine up and down the lake and Ranger chases it everywhere!  Well, Todd was making several long runs to make a runway for us and Ranger followed him a few times, then he sort of stopped 1/2 way like he was getting tired.  On Todd's way back he stopped and motioned for ranger to jump on the machine.  He sure jumped into Todd's lap and was happy as could be to be riding along.  Now he always wants to ride.  It's pretty funny.  Bree and I also took a ride in the little cart we pull on the machine.  Ranger was definitely having a better time, but she tolerated it.

Dogs curled up in the plane.  Lucky dogs!

Now's the time of year here in Alaska where the lakes start thawing out.  It's time to wait  for the lake to clear so we can put the floats on the plane and land on the floats.  I really love float flying.  It's just my favorite for some reason!  Looking forward to the summer and enjoying this time right now to get everything all prepped and ready.

These next pics are just from a hike we did when we got back from the cabin this week.  It is on a trail at Eklutna.  I've viewed the lake from this far above before, but from flying over.  I think my comment was it's a lot easier to get up this high in the plane...but it's also a lot more expensive!  It's always fun to push yourself and see a view that not many people get to see.  Makes me thankful for the things that I am able to do and for choosing a life filled with activity.  Hopefully many more hikes to come in this lifetime!

2015 Lower 48 Trip

It's been a long hard winter in Alaska.  This probably doesn't mean what you think though.  Instead of feet of snow we've had hardly any.  For those of us that enjoy winter sports it sure makes for a long winter.  This year has really made us thankful for our fat tire bikes.  While lack of snow makes it difficult to ski without possibly ruining your skis it's pretty great for fat tire biking.  So this year we went fat tire biking almost daily and only went skiing one time.  For that time we went up to Palmer to Hatcher's pass.

Louisiana
Because of this winter when we got the opportunity to mix business with vacation we said let's go!  Our trip started by flying into New Orleans.   My dad and uncle picked us up at the airport and we drove straight to my aunts house where we had a nice homemade crawfish stew waiting for us.  The next morning it was a little king cake for breakfast to be followed by some boiled crawfish for lunch.  Yum!  It was good to get to visit with family that we don't get to see very often.

After lunch we made the 2 hour drive to Lafayette. We spent a couple days there and really enjoyed our visit.  We went to Avery Island and toured the Tabasco plant and tasted some good Tabasco products.  Tabasco ice cream was surely interesting.  It was actually better than I thought.  What was really good was the chili starter that they had.  Actually bought a bottle to make here in Alaska.  Looking forward to that.  Just waiting for the right time.  Our visit to Prejean's Restaurant in Lafayette was tasty too.  I always laugh at all the years I lived in Louisiana there are so many places and things I've never been.  So on this trip we visited a few of those.

I think my favorite part of the trip to Lafayette was getting the opportunity to catch up with my old coach Anne Roger.  I wish I had gotten a pic!  She's a super sweet person and had such a big impact on my life.  I don't think some people realize how impressionable teenagers are.  They may roll their eyes or act like they're not listening, but they are soaking it all in...always watching.  It was really great to catch up with such an awesome person.  It was nice for her to get to meet my husband too.  We met at a super cool little place in Lafayette called the tap room.  It was located in River Ranch.  There are a few cool things that have come to lafayette since I left and the tap room is one of them.  Thanks to my old buddy Brian Campbell for letting me know about it.  Of course on our last morning in Lafayette my dad ran out to get the ever famous Meches Donuts.  Let's just say by the time I left Lafayette I was just a little full.  Always enjoyable for a short trip!!

South Austin - Texas
Todds work this time actually brought us to South Austin.  Usually when I've gone back to Austin I've stayed north in the Georgetown.  It had been years since I really spent any amount of time in south Austin.  To me south Austin was where I grew up.  It was my first post college/professional job.  Finished college and moved off to start life.  It was my first apartment, first job, where I found my love for the outdoors and triathlon, learned to work with all sorts of different people.  After getting to drive around and frequent some restaurants that I enjoy and a few new ones I remembered how much I love south Austin.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Alaska and don't want to leave.  I did wake up every morning with a headache from the nice Austin allergens, but other than that it was good.  I could share so many more thoughts probably, but my brain is just tired.

The SAH crew

Me and Janet at Moontower

Enjoying a beer at salt lick

Look at all that meat!  Salt Lick was so worth the drive.