Hammerman 2013

A few days before this years hammerman triathlon I was feeling pretty good.  My swimming was coming along quite well and the weather was supposed to be awesome.  Race morning we get there and it starts raining and is cloudy.  So much for those good trail conditions.  The lake was still like glass though.  Got in a few minutes before the start to do a little swim warm up.  Still felt good! 

At the start I got way to the outside away from all the crazy swimmers and just took off.  I was feeling really good.  After I rounded the buoy I briefly glanced at my watch and saw that I was definitely on swim PR pace.  I got a little excited.  I was calm and controlled throughout the entire swim.  When I exited the water and saw I was at 15 or 16 minutes I was really pumped.  In fact, as I was in transition trying to get my wetsuit off, and get on the bike I was just so excited about my good swim.  I almost had to slap myself and say "ok, bike time". 

Starting the bike at the hammerman is always interesting.  You exit transition and mount your bike and immediately start climbing a crazy up hill.  Surely humbles you if you were feeling good.  The course was incredibly slick and super muddy.  Anyone you passed by was totally covered in mud.  And you just knew you were too.  It was quite difficult staying upright at times.  The roots were very slick and your tires would just slide all over them.  On some of the up hills you had to get off your bike and really kick your feet into the mud to drag your bike up to avoid slipping...which you still did a lot.  As I was coming around a corner there was momma and baby moose right there on the trail.  I of course stopped and gave them a little distance.  A couple guys came up behind me and sort of yelled at her a bit and she and baby just moved so we could pass.  Thanks momma!  Since the babies are a little more mobile now I think the moms are a little less anxious and protective.  She honestly didn't look concerned about us at all.  Ears up the whole time, just grazing.  After than obstacle the bike finished up ok.  Not my best time with all the mud.

When I started the run my legs felt like cement.  I usually feel pretty good coming off the bike, but this year I think the bike was just so much tougher with all the slipping around so more energy output.  It probably would have helped to at least do one brick before the race.  Yea, I'm smart.  My whole thought on the run was "just keep moving".  Walked up a few of the steep hills, but walked less than I did last year for sure.  I ran into Todd about a mile in and he was having a crazy quad cramp so he wished me well and told me to go on.  I was feeling a lot better when I knew I had about a mile left to go.  At this point I was looking at my watch thinking I could beat my overall time for last year.  About 1/2 a mile left to go I hear this bird making a god awful sound.  Suddenly there's this bird in front of me coming straight at my head doing it's war yell!  So I waited till the last second then ducked!  Ahh, it missed me.  It's the same bird that chased Todd on the trail for a few miles last week.  I think it was a hawk and she built her nest right along the trail and it was known that she's been dive bombing people.  She drew blood from some, but thank goodness not from me on that day.

I finished the run strong with a total time of 2:54:23.  I believe last year I was 2:58 ish.  So overall I was pretty happy.  I don't have the splits yet, but no matter I'm very pleased with my swim.  I must say another thing about Todd.  I was sad when I saw him walking in front of me on the run.  When I caught up with him and he was cramping I was just bummed, because I know how frustrating something like that can be.  It's so nice that he's so supportive of me and an amazing man that pushes me to go on ahead of him.  Instead of him being upset that he got "chicked" that night he just told me how he was so proud of how well I did.  What a man!  Todd's accomplished so much in triathlon.  His accomplishments are such a motivation to me.  I think he knows that no matter how we finish in races that he will always be my triathlon hero. 

Here's a pic of Todd and I after the race.  We are both super tired, dirty and smiling from ear to ear!

Me and my Tri man

Life and Love

 Engagement

 I've been a very bad at not keeping up with the blogging again.  So I'm going to just do this all in one big post.

The weekend of June 9th was a very special one.  It started out very normal, which is usually good, then it became even more special and awesome.  On Sunday June 9th, Todd asked me to be his wife.  For those of you that don't know Todd is a pilot.  One of our friends has a small airplane that we have the key to.  Things have been so busy for us especially in the summers...that we just haven't taken the time to use it.  It's been so beautiful this summer and Sunday was another one of those beautiful days.  We got up and had nice Saturday morning run through Kincaid park with the puppies as usual.  On the way home Todd mentions that it's such a nice day we should go flying somewhere.  I agree!  So we end up deciding on Seldovia because neither of us has been there before.  It is a great sleepy little town with beautiful views.  Otters playing in the water, houses up on stilts.  Just cool and laid back like we like.  So we fly in and walk around and have a bite to eat.  After having a little food and some ice cream we walked back to the plane admiring the homes and their interesting colors and funky little features.  We get back in the plane and are getting ready to start up the engine.  Todd turns to me and comments how long I had to wait to go flying with him.  I come back with a little comment like "yep, that's it...we're done now"  Little did I know....right after that he says "I was just wondering if you'd like to be my wife?"  He said it much better than I can type it.  I said of course I want to be your wife Todd.  (At this point I didn't realize that he was actually asking!) yes, sometimes I'm slow.  But, I did answer truthfully that I want to be his wife.  He then takes out a beautiful ring that belonged to his grandmother Erickson.  (yes, now I realize he's actually asking)  Of course, I said yes again and the rest is just history.  Here's a picture of us that we took right after he asked me.  My head was and still is completely spinning.  He totally caught me by surprise, but then that's the story of our whole relationship.....When I moved to Alaska in the Fall of 2011 I was planning on adventure, but meeting the love of my life was no where on the radar.  I had been married before and was pretty down on love and marriage.  I was closed off and not trusting.  When I met and got to know Todd all that changed.  Because of the man he is he completely changed my life. All the bitterness and heartache of the past was just gone.  It was replaced by true joy and true love.  I have found a man of strength and character.  The man I've always longed for.  Sometimes I wonder why I felt so called to Alaska.  Now I know beyond any doubt it was to meet this man.  My partner for the rest of my life.  It's so nice to feel so secure in knowing that you're in a relationship with someone who believes in the same things you do.  Honors relationships and marriage as they should be.  I must say it's nice to know that this is it.

 Wedding Day

We decided to get married on July 5th.  Quite a short engagement by today's standards, but why wait?  I think most people have these long engagements in order to plan a big wedding, give guests time to request time off of work if necessary, etc.  No need for that here!  We are so similar when it comes to this kind of stuff.  We wanted something small and intimate....just for us.  I think so many times wedding planning gets out of hand and ends up becoming so much of what others want and expect instead of what you and your spouse want.  We decided from the beginning not to let that happen.  So here's what happened.....

We decided to meet with the photographer, Brenda Crim (who married us), and our 2 witnesses (our good friends Jeff and Robin) at kincaid park chalet.  We were going to walk down to this great beach area with a view of the inlet and the mountains.  However, on this day the wind was really blowing and you could tell the rain was coming.  So we decided on plan B....which ended up being perfect for us anyway.  We went to little campbell lake where we always park in the summer to swim and bike and run and let the puppies play in the lake.  So we are there several times a week in the summer.  It's a special place to us.  Brings us lots of joy!  So, it ended up being what we really wanted.  It was still a little rainy and windy, but we found a nice little place under the trees and said our vows.  We stuck around to snap a few pictures and that was it.  It was perfect.

Pictures to come soon.