Thankfulness 2016

Once again it's been way too long.  As you can tell by the title I'm feeling very thankful lately so I thought I'd touch on a few of the reasons why.  There are too many reasons to touch on everything so I'll just hit a few of the highlights.
1.  My husband and home life
2.  Family
3.  Work
4.  Friends

Starting in January Todd started his new job with Alaska Airlines.  This meant 3 months of him being away from home in Seattle.  It was stressful for him even though he handled it so well.  Lots of new information, being away from home, etc.  I truly missed his presence at home.  So glad to have him home now and starting a normal schedule with his new job.  I'm so proud of him.  He's such a hard worker and man of integrity.  I'm happy for him that he is getting to do his dream job.  I wish for him a long and rewarding career.

I took this picture with a little bit of resistance, but like the first day of school I needed a picture of him in his uniform on the way to a flight.

Todd heading out for a flight to Deadhorse

I also have to give a big shout out to my baby sister.  For those of you that don't know she's my only one.  She's 8 years younger so for a big part of our life we were both like only children.  We grew up at different times in our family life.  We weren't very close due to being so far apart and having different interests, and probably due to me being a teenager when she was young, in a difficult marriage and just in a different place.  I just have to say it's been really nice getting to know her as an adult.  She's an awesome person and amazingly talented.  We still have different interest as she's a big city girl and I still prefer the country life, but we've found more common ground in recent years and it's great.  She's super talented and I couldn't be more proud of the person she is.  She's also my official race support crew!  Love her!

Me and Amy at Lakewood church in Houston where she lives and goes to church

At work I've been on night shift on the weekends for over a year now.  Recently I had to work another shift.  I can't say that it was horrible.  I have some amazing colleagues for sure!  However, I did miss my regular shift.  I finally feel like I am getting to know some of the other people in the hospital that work when I do.  I feel like I belong somewhere.  It's nice to be with my work family.



It's nice to see a very old friend find happiness.  On April 9, 2016 my oldest friend from childhood Aimee got married.  She's an amazing person and a most awesome friend.  My only wish is that she lived closer.  To show what a close friend she is my sister is actually named after her.  One awesome Amy named after the other.  The other guy in the picture is Mark.  He was also a childhood friend and it was so nice to see him after 20+ years.  Great to be back in touch.

Mark, Aimee, and Me

The struggle is real

Back on the run training after a long lay off of just being run focused.  First track workout today.  I forgot how tough those can be.  By my 7th and 8th repeat i was about to fall off the treadmill.  I'm not normally a treadmill person, but with track workouts it makes you stay on pace. 

Honestly, it took everything I had to get up and get off the couch today.  After working all night sometimes I just don't want to do anything.  I'm glad I did though.  I needed to.  Not that work has been incredibly stressful these last couple of days.  We did have a 7.1 earthquake last night that was pretty exciting, but nothing else too bad.  Thank goodness because last weekend wore me out.  Things won't get done sitting on the couch.  Back at it this week.  So much to do, but this week should be a little more relaxed than last.  Still lots to accomplish, but at least I'll be at home and can stay on task.  Painting the living room will be my major task!

Making progress on my fitness goals though not as fast as I'd like to.  With that said, my progress or lack thereof  is purely my fault.  Even though progress is slow, it's progress and I'm making mental gains daily.  I feel myself getting stronger both physically and mentally.  Breaking years of bad habits is a struggle and doesn't happen overnight, but it's happening.  Back to work tonight.  I should go and get ready. 

2015 Review....2016 plan

Me posing in front of our garage right after we moved in

My first trip to Kona.  It was pretty awesome and is probably my favorite island.  Nice to see where Todd did the Ironman race and got to run the pit!

Got to meet Kona legend Wendy Minor.  She's a true inspiration for life and sport

My sister was able to get up here for her birthday and experience a little of Alaska winter

Ahh work.  This is the aftermath of a trauma.  I enjoy my job and the folks I work with.

A man and his cabin.  It's a beautiful thing.  We love our little getaway.

Starting midway through since I can't seem to move the pictures I've added down.  Was looking through pictures and decided to just do a recap of the year.  Some years are good, some aren't as good as others.  This year was pretty awesome for me.  We started off in a new house and area of town and have had some great adventures and tests this year.  As I went through here and am adding captions to all the pictures I can't help but think, "What a year!"  So many amazing things we were able to do.  I feel so blessed to be alive and live in the amazing place I do. 

Were there some rough times?  Sure!! Like when I had a bike crash on the 2nd day of my Ironman training plan that put me out of my favorite race of the summer and threatened my training.  Hello bummer!  However, it's all what you focus on.  I could have focused on that and the other negative, but I choose to focus on all the other great things that happened this year.  Plus I learned so much from that too.  Overcoming, pushing through pain, focusing on the goal.  When I finished my race it was that much sweeter.

Relaxing upon our arrival at the cabin. 

Got to visit Austin and reunite with some of my South Austin coworkers.  So nice to see everyone

Looking down on lake Eklutna.  Just one of our many amazing adventures this year.

The pups love each other and are happy and healthy.  What more can you ask for.

Midnight sun anniversary paring with Ansley.  Fun times

Just a couple of the great OB nurses I work with

ATV trip with friends

Ladies of Anesthesia!

One of my favorite pictures of the year.  It just sums up our epic summer trips

Todd achieved something great by being hired as an Alaska Airlines Pilot.  This is a job that most want to get to their whole career.  So proud of his achievement.  He works so hard!

Another visit from my sister. This time in the summer.  This was after a big shopping trip. Thanks Ansley for coming with us.  Fun times

My work partner in crime Lois!  So great to work with her!

A true Alaskan Tradition.  This is me and Todd standing in the Kenai Rive Dip netting.  Alaska Residents are allowed to use a large net to catch Salmon in the river to fill their freezers for the season.  Pretty awesome.  Thanks Lois for the picture from her boat.

Hammerman 2015!  Always a great race.  This time I was hurt so put together a relay.  Nate biked and Todd swam for us.  We came out right behind the team with professional athletes on it so I'm going to call it a win.

Was able to travel to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists national meeting in Salt Lake City this year.  These are 2 of my good buddies from Texas!  So proud to be a part of such a great profession

A bit of hiking in Salt Lake

We can clean up pretty good too!

More Salt Lake hiking.  This was at the end of a hike we did.  Amazing scenery

Reunited with some more Texas friends.  So many good little brew pubs...even with the strange Mormon rules

A first for me.  Moose processing in the garage.  Fun times.  Moose tastes so good!

Getting the final grind! Yum

After not boarding at all last year finally got out to the mountain

Me and Ansley at hilltop enjoying the slopes

Crossing the finish line at Ironman 70.3 in Austin.  My first, but not my last I think.  This was an amazing experience and I look forward to testing myself again.

Race Morning with my friend Christine

Race morning with my sister.  She was a trooper and hung out all day with Todd to support me!

Right before the finish line.  Still smiling.  So nice to have so much support all day. 

So what will 2016 hold?  I don't know! Does anyone?  I hope that it can only be 1/2 as good as 2015 was to us.  Todd begins his journey of a new job.  We are continuing to work on our house updating and keeping things up.  As for me I don't have any big plans for this year except a little bit of travel and healthy living.  Signed up to run 1000 miles this year so that will keep me on track.  I plan to do Hammerman solo again this year.  Hoping for no injuries that prevent that.  I also have plans to go down to Louisiana for the Cajun Man triathlon.  It was one of my first I did a long time ago and I look forward to going there again.  Looking forward to seeing if it's as good a little race as it was all those years ago.  So no big crazy races, but a few smaller fun ones!

Well, I know for most this may not have been a thrilling year or update, but for me it was pretty satisfying.  Looking to this year with positive thoughts and a hopeful spirit! 

What to do post Ironman

What do you do after you spend 6 months preparing for the biggest race you've ever done?  After the race you surely come down from a high.    With that said, I think there's more than one answer.  Rest, fun, think about your next race, and catch up on the neglect to your friends, family and house.  The rest part was somewhat enjoyable.  I rested for a couple days and then on day 4 I was out on the fat tire bike with Todd and the dogs.  After my bike crash at the beginning of training in the summer I didn't ride my mountain bike at all to avoid the jarring to my shoulder.  I so missed it!  Glad to be back out there.  I must say I have been fighting the urge to swim and run.  Why?  I don't really know why.  I think because I told myself I was just not going to swim or run during the winter.  I must say I do feel a calling when I pass by the pool.  Maybe I'll jump in one day soon.  I may go for a run tomorrow as it's warmed up enough to melt all the snow we had and ruin the skiing I had planned for this week.  Hoping things cool down enough to get us back to a normal Alaskan winter. 

Out enjoying a fat bike ride on a really cold day.  Temps hovering around Zero!  Burr

Ranger rockin his new coat on the ATV.  He loves riding it.

This off season I'm going to focus on getting leaner and getting my strength back.  I have been in the gym lifting almost every day and I have really been enjoying it.  I forgot how much I enjoy lifting.  I'm not a gym talker though.  I like to put my hat on, put my headphones in and get my workout on.  Sometimes I don't even look at people.  So if I see you in the gym and I don't tell you hi I'm not ignoring you, I just haven't noticed you.  I will tell you hello, but don't expect to stand around and chat for too long...just sayin'. 

Another though is to work on cycling.  As much as I thought I was so done with sitting on the bike trainer.  It's like I've been having withdrawals of that too.  Weird huh?  Definitely feels weird to me.  But I think I may use a cycling book I have to work on my bike power.  I feel like I've lost power over the years.  I definitely have the endurance now after sitting in the saddle so long.  Time for a new challenge. 

I think the biggest thing I'm looking forward to is working with my new trainer and nutrition coach!  Her name is Tiffany and she's a bad ass!  She recently won her category at a national bodybuilding championship.  I used to be so much better at all this stuff, but now I feel that when I think about nutrition I just go blank.  It will be nice to have professional guidance in this area.  I know it's what I need.  Congrats Tiff I know Dave is proud of you and your Alaska family are super stoked for you!!!

My new coach!  She rocks...I know I'm going to love/hate her :)

Well, it's Thanksgiving day and I feel like I got a lot done.  We finished painting the big room downstairs and we also changed out all of the receptacles and switches.  It's nice to have them all matching and fresh paint on the walls.  It looks like a whole new room that I actually want to spend time in.  Since it's warm and slushy which equals major muddy dogs we chose to stay home and do some work here.  It was nice to get some things organized into piles of donate, garbage and keep.  I love getting rid of things that I don't need, use or better yet that someone else can get some use out of. 

New paint.  So glad the tacky bright yellow is gone.  I actually want to hang out here now.  Time to decorate and fix things up

That's it for random thoughts on a nice Thanksgiving Day.  Happy Thanksgiving!

My view from the gym.  I can lift here all day. 

Austin 70.3 Ironman Recap

Me and My sister Amy at 5am keeping warm before the swim start

This by far was my biggest athletic undertaking.  It's the longest I've trained and prepared for one particular event.  I think that made my finish incredibly satisfying.  For the most part I truly enjoyed all the training I did.  Of course there were days where I didn't feel like doing certain things or anything at all, but for the most part it was quite enjoyable. There were some days where I didn't feel good and I took off of training completely.  I think that makes a difference in your mental state.  You have to be comfortable with your training plan and know when to say when.  My husband told me to rest on a few occasions.  He said no miles are better than junk miles that may make you sick or sicker for longer. He was right!  With is triathlon resume who can doubt him.

My awesome hubby packing my bike.  He's the best!  He lugged it, packed and unpacked and repacked it again!

Race day it was up at 4am.  I can honestly say I don't miss this early morning stuff.  At least here in Alaska most of the races start at 9 or 10 am.  You never sleep super great the night before a race so I was up at 330 or so.  I got up and made my breakfast, drank my tea and we were out the door.  I had dropped off my run bag and bike the day before so it was nice to have one less thing to worry about.  I got to T1 and checked my bike and went back out to hang with Todd and Amy.  It was a little chilly for just wearing a tri suit so I put on my wetsuit 1/2 way and that was perfect.  Had a jacket and hat already.  Was so great to have family there to be able to hand them my stuff as I was going off to start. 

Me and My friend Christine getting ready to race

The swim was not the easiest, but I didn't think it was that bad.  It was windy and choppy and they actually reversed the course to help with the wind.  There were about 100 people pulled from the water.  My swim time was on par with what I thought it would be so I was really happy with it.  The swim used to be my most feared thing and now it's just not that bad.  Even in suboptimal conditions.  I felt calm and cool the entire time even though I woke up with a cough in the morning and I seemed to cough a good bit out there. 

swim area

folks getting ready to start

And we're off

The bike was enjoyable although my neck was hurting a bit toward the end.  I just adjusted my position a bit and kept going.  I knew it would be over soon enough.  I know a lot of folks were complaining that the bike was so hilly, but I'm used to riding in Alaska and to me it was a dream route!  The road conditions were not the best, but I thought the race organizer did a good job of marking potholes, etc.  Those areas that were particularly bad had a person standing there warning you of the dangerous area.  I was quite pleased.  I was honestly done with the bike around 2 hours in.  Only had to ride another 1.5 hours.  Once I got off the bike though it all went away.  Time to run!

Coming into the finishers chute. 

The run course wasn't bad either.  Of course I would have loved a completely flat out and back course, but it is what it is!  This is the only thing I was slightly disappointed with.  I thought I could complete the 13.1 in about 2:15, but it ended up taking more like 2:45 or so.  I'm not too upset though.  I had no idea what to expect and my original goal was just to finish and I did that.  I was a little more pooped on the run than I expected.  On my last of the 3 loop course a girl asked me if she could run with me.  I said sure.  I'm glad I could help distract her from her pain.  She just chatted away and was really nice.  I wasn't too chatty, but was glad to listen to her. 

Finish Line!

Seeing Todd, Amy and Janet as I came around toward the finish line was the best.  I just kept thinking "I did it".  I was all smiles and ready to be done moving.  After 7.5 hours of continuous movement I was just a little tired!  After I crossed the finish line I got a really big hug from Todd which was the best!  To know he was proud of me means a lot.  I know he was proud I finished, but I know he would have been proud of me regardless.  That means everything. 

I must say I was disappointed with the post race food.  There was some not so warm spaghetti and bags of chips torn open.  I thought I'd be starving, but I could only eat a little bit.  So I forced a little down and I was very ready to go.  I just wanted to be shown the way to the couch.  We got back to carol's place and I went straight to the shower.  That shower felt as good as any shower I've ever had.  It was like the been at the cabin for a week with no shower good!  After that I hit the couch.  I have never been so exhausted before.  I was able to only eat a little bit about every hour.  I slept really well till 3am then I was up!  I was STARVING!  So then the eating began. My sister was up at 5 so we just watched TV and hung out.  It was nice to get to spend some time chatting.  For the next 3 days I think I ate everything in sight. 

I must say I wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be.  My knees and ankles hurt the first day a bunch.  I think it's because there was so much running on pavement.  I'm used to running on trails.  It's definitely a lot softer.  My muscles were just fatigued more than anything.  We were able to hang out on Monday, go to a movie and just hang out!  It was nice and relaxing.  I felt so good!  On Tuesday Todd's buddy Steve was in San Antonio so we took a drive over to have lunch and hang out for a bit.  It's always nice to see Steve.  He's quite an accomplished athlete and someone to look up to in that aspect.  I hope to have a long career like he has!

My friend Kim watching my pups had them send a message. 

Overall this was a great first 70.3 and a great trip.  I got to have my husband with me for the trip.  He was so great and put up with me and my friend watching scary shows and stuff.  I got to see my friends and have my sister in town and all of them hung out all day while I did the race.  I mean it's not the most spectator exciting thing to watch folks swim, bike and run.  I am truly appreciative of all the support and love I felt!  I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym now and working on strength.  I can't wait to get out and do some skiing and fat tire biking this winter.  It will be a nice change of pace.  Will I do another 70.3?  I think so.  I enjoyed the distance and the training.  It's nice to have the support at home to put in the training time too.  Not all spouses are so understanding, but Todd having done so many races understands.  I'm so grateful for him! 

San Antonio riverwalk tex mex and drinks after the race with Steve and Todd

Well, that's it for the race recap.  Off to planning and training for the next challenge!

Carol and Amy.  Best race supporters ever!