Before & After

Dan and I remodeled our fireplace/tv area. We are so in love with the outcome. It is amazing what a difference it has made to the feel of our home. It is so warm and cozy now. Next, new paint color for the walls! Thanks to Vaughn and Beth for helping turn our house into a home.

 

She Shoots! She Scores!

Been going to watch Debbie play some ice hockey over the past few weeks. She recently joined an all-women's hockey team and they play about 20 minutes from my house. She kicks ass. It is actually so much fun to watch, quite different than the NHL. She plays on the novice squad so the skating is slower and stopping sometimes means running into the boards but these ladies have spirit and guts! What is so cool to watch is that they never give up, even when they are super exhausted by the third period. Unlike the NHL they don't have a full roster. Often only 4-6 women will show up so that means a lot of play time for these ladies. At her game two weeks ago, Debbie scored! It was awesome. I screamed in excitement and jumped up and down. Then I turned around to the gentleman behind me and told him that was my sister who scored. I was so proud. There were about 10 of us in the stands that night, it was a large crowd. Here are some pics of my sister in action, she's #11...

BSS #3, #4 & #5

Did three more Boulder Stroke and Stride events. I'm just going to pass through #3. My swim time was good considering I had stomach issues all day and then some ashhole/poor sport decided to do one wallop of a kick in my stomach and then tried to swim me out of the reservoir. My run was slow but glad I finished it. Wish my swim was as gentle as this swim.

BSS #4 was awesome! Bragging moment - I was first out of the water, men and women, for the 1/2 mile swim. My 5k time was the fastest to date. My swim time was only a few seconds slower than my best time and then I come to find out that the swim was 839 meters instead of 750 meters. It was an awesome race and I felt great. 

BSS #5 was good. I decided not to wear a wetsuit and I could tell a difference in my stroke/swim. I finished fourth out of the water and my time was a bit slower. If I can make excuses, which I can because it is my blog, I blame it on not wearing a wetsuit and the fact that the swim was 815 meters instead of 750. My 5k time was slow, just couldn't find the power. I emailed the race director asking him if the swim is long again this week if we could shorten the run to make up for it. He didn't go for it. :)

Tomorrow is BSS #6. I'm really hoping to break 30 minutes in my 5k. Yes, I am a slow runner. Guess it would help if I ran more than this one time a week, plus I'm still trying to be gentle on my back. The following week is the last BSS of the season (I missed the first three). I think I'm going to try the 1-mile swim and 5k as a power finish to the series. Ohhh, Ahhhh, yells the crowd. 

The series has been so much fun and will probably be my only triathlon type race I do this year. I totally recommend it to anyone who is out here. Yeah!

Early Look-alike Meter

On Beth's blog, she has links to her friends blogs. I clicked on one to see what and how they blogged. I stumbled across this little gem. Thank goodness I equally look like my mom and dad. All those Kmart Bluelight Special rumors can now be squashed!

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

BSS #1 & #2

No, BSS does not mean bullshizzle stupid, it's the Boulder Stroke and Stride. I finally did one and then one the next week. The BSS is either a 750 or 1500 meter swim and a 5k run. You also have the option of only doing one of the swim distances or only the run or a relay. For the first one I chose to do the swim distance only and of course the shortest distance, 750 meters. It's been a while since I did an "open water" swim (it cracks me up that lake swimming is referred to as open water swimming, I'm used to the ocean as open water swimming). It was a blast. I swallowed a bunch of icky Boulder Rez water, had to tread water several times to clear my goggles, pissed people off around me as I swam breakstroke to look for the buoys and still managed to come out of the water third. I felt like such a wimp not running so I knew I had to suck it up for the next one.... BSS #2.



I was third out of the water again for BSS #2 (and my time was the same as last weeks!) and good thing because I am the worst runner. To be honest, I'm just happy I can run again. Walking and not being crooked is pretty darn fabulous too. I'm a run/walker because I'm just not there yet in my fitness or back strength to go all out running. Or so I thought during this BSS. The person who came out of the water second was not very nice in the water as she totally slammed me against the buoys on one of the turns. Really, is that necessary when it was just the two of us next to each other. Sheesh! I saw her on the run and noticed she walking too. I thought she is definitely swimmer based like me and can't run, like me. So I thought I had a chance to catch her. I finally did in the last 1/2-mile. But only because I chose not to do my run/walk and I ran almost the entire 5k except for 3 minutes of it. Did I pay for it afterwards, a little, but I could still walk and that is all that mattered.



Next Thursday is BSS #3. I hope to be consistent in my swim time and maybe just a smidge faster in my run. It's hard to walk when you are getting passed by a ton of people running. It is frustrating. They probably would pass me anyhow if I was at my best running pace, I just hate to walk. It feels so great to be racing again, even if it is super short distances.

Sports Bra = SOS

Yet another use for your bra ladies....

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/23/colorado-hiker-uses-sports-bra-send-sos-alps/

OMG!

Jordan Summits Denali!

Congratulations to Jordan Romero, age 11, on his successful summit of Denali (aka Mt. McKinley). He is attempting to become the youngest person to successfully summit the eight highest mountains in the world (I thought there were only seven, but apparently there is some controversy about this so he is covering his bases and climbing them all). Five down, three to go. Props to Karen and Paul on summitting with Jordan as well.

Two years ago...

yesterday, Dan and I arrived at my sister's house, who lives south of Denver. I can't believe it has been two years since we moved out here. The minute we got here it felt like home and that we had lived here for years. That is always a good sign. I still get excited when I see the Rockies on my way to work as well as all the farms and horses. It is just so pleasant and beautiful and peaceful. I hope I never lose that lovin' feeling.

Becky!

I met up with my dear friend Becky yesterday! We swam together in Arizona many moons ago. We just reconnected on Facebook a few weeks ago and I found out she was going to be in town because her husband is from Boulder. How cool! She suggested we meet in Boulder at a Master Swim practice. I was game. We swam meters. Apparently she still swims meters and it showed as she lead our lane. I haven't swam meters since high school. It is a long ways down the pool, especially swimming backstroke. It was fun and so wonderful to catch up with her. The visit was too short but hopefully her next trip to CO we can visit a bit longer. It has been 16 years since we last saw each other, so there is still lots to chat about.

Here we are after practice. I wore my Pepperdine swim sweatshirt in case she didn't recognize me when we met at the pool. :)

Don't cry wolf!

Beth was nice enough to lead us on a mountain bike ride this morning. She turned around after 30 minutes because the trail became technical and at 8 months pregnant, riding those types of trails is totally inadvisable. The sad thing is that she totally kicked our butts at 8 months pregnant!!! As we started up the technical hill, a wolf came up from the side and crossed in front of me. I wasn't nervous, just taken aback. At first I thought it was a coyote because you normally see them out here. But I kept thinking that is the biggest coyote I have seen. And I have never seen a grayish, white one before. I told my dad the story and he set me straight telling me it was probably a wolf, and he was right. Hee Hee. I crack myself up. How can you mistake a wolf for a coyote??? Unfortunately Dan didn't see the wolf. I always enjoy seeing the wildlife, however, I'm ok if I never see a mountain lion expect say, at the zoo.

It's a miracle! No, it's Pilates!

I ran/walked a 5k last Sunday with some friends form the swim team. My goal was to keep my back pain free. Ad good Lord, I did it. I didn't have any pain on Sunday after the race, after I cleaned the garage, all day Monday, Tuesday after running/walking again and all the way through today, Saturday. Pilates Rules!!! Here we are after the race. Ian, at the end, didn't run. We would have given him a hard time about not running since it was only a 5k, but he just got back from the Masters Nationals swim meet where he broke a few state records. He desrves a break.

No More Paper Shades!

Our shutters were installed today, yeah!!! These shutters totally made our house feel more like a home rather than your first place after college. :)

Before

After

Only in Alaska!

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/zip/673017049.html

Poop

Missed this little gem in the news. Luckily Jenn B. shared it with all of us. Apparently I'm in the wrong industry.

I'd rather be Jogging!

Beth and I hiked Hogback last Wednesday. We were supposed to hike on Thursday, but Beth said the weather was supposed to be bad on Thursday so we moved it to Wednesday. Thank goodness we did because it snowed on Thursday! It was a beautiful, sunny 85 degrees on Wednesday. Unbelievably Beth had never done Hogback before so the climb up was a little bit of a surprise to her. She is 7 months pregnant now and held an awesome pace. The highlight of the hike, besides her company of course, was her fabulous t-shirt. We received many giggles from people who passed us. In case you can't read her t-shirt, it says "I'd rather be jogging." Hee Hee Hee!!!

Mountain Mamas

Dan and I went to the first annual Mountain Mammas charity auction dinner last Sunday. It was at the Gold Lakes Resort in Ward. Ward is in the mountains, pretty much out in the middle of nowhere, but it was beautiful! Pam, who is one of the owners of Mountain Mammas, is also one of my fellow Pilates trainees. It was great to go to the event and see what she does outside of the studio. It was a heartfelt evening where they had a slide show of the kids that go to their camp and they had one at the dinner who gave a very moving speech. It was a wonderful evening that was definitely out of my norm. Lots of horse people at the dinner and a few that were not, like us. Although Pam said she would take us riding this summer. Not sure how I feel about that since the few times I've been on a horse (including those plastic bouncy things), I cried like a little girl (granted I was a little girl). I'm older now so we will see. Pam promised me a gentle horse.

The Mountain Mammas also provides a primitive skills program. I'm guessing this gal was part of that program as she started the fire the old fashioned way (versus the way my dad has done in the past with some gasoline and a match!).


Here I am with Susie, an instructor at the Pilates studio where we train and I work, and Pam (in the middle). No, I'm no that tall nor are they that short. I was wearing 4 inch heels that night! Yee Haw!

3-1/2 Hour Lunch

Debbie and I had lunch today with an old Carmel Swim Club (CSC) friend, Kim Holmes. None of us had seen each other in about 25 years. Wow! We gabbed for 3.5 hours; we could have stayed at the restaurant for dinner. It was so wonderful catching up with her. She has worked in the swimming world for many years now and currently works at USA Swimming, so she was totally in the know about a lot of other former CSC swimmers. It was great to hear about them. I definitely wish I had stayed in contact with them. She even knew a few swimmers from my Arizona swimming days. What a small world. We are definitely going to keep in touch and see each other again soon. I hope this is a start of reuniting with other CSC swimmers. :)

Bethie and I went for a nice little hike yesterday. I didn't bring my camera on the hike itself but took this cute portrait at the end. She is now 7 months pregnant and looking great. I like hiking with "pregnant Beth" because I can keep up with her and she needs to stop to rest every so often. :)

The Eagle Has Landed

Yeah, Dan's plane has landed! Now he gets to drive home in crappy, snowy weather. Time for me to go to bed!

I'm tracking Dan's flight from CA to CO. I should be folding laundry, writing up meeting notes, sleeping, but instead I'm watching a tiny plane not move unless I refresh the page. Lucky Dan, look what he gets to fly into...

BeeGees take 2nd at State!

We came in second overall at the state meet this past weekend! Our best finish ever. I had a really good meet. Set best times in all my events. They are not lifetime best times, but Master Swimming best times. :)

Before I bore you with the details of my races, I have to say this weekend was totally inspiring and motivating because Masters swimming isn't just about breaking records (like 46-year old John Smith who broke the National Master record in the 100 free) or winning almost every event you swim (like Susan van der Lippe) but it was about the 85 year old man who still dove off the blocks and competed against the other two 80-something year old men - who by the way completed every single event they entered. And it is about our own BeeGee, Ruth, who at 75 years old completed the 200 fly (along with several other events) without breaking a stroke or getting DQ'd (she also does open water swims!!!). To know that I have the opportunity to still compete for the next 50 years is either totally psycho (great she said sarcastically, I have to do this for the next 50 years) or totally cool (yeah she said I get to do this for the next 50 years!). I chose the latter for sure!

Two days before I swam it was shave down time. Oh yeah, I went old school and grow out the hair on my legs. It wasn't as much fun as it was in the past. Imagine that. Dan begged me to wait two weeks before the meet instead of the two months that I did. Sorry Dan! I'll spare you the pictures. :)

Saturday was a long day. My sister Debbie came to cheer us on, Dan was home sick the whole weekend. :( I swam 5 individual events and 2 relays. First relay of the day was the women's 200 Medley Relay, I swam fly. It was nice the first race of the day was a relay, gently ease into the meet. Next up, the 100 IM. I was so nervous I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I was in lane 10 (I have never swam in a meet where we use 10 lanes) and couldn't hear the starter. I actually saw the gal next to me leave the blocks and that's when I left. Late start but I knocked 3 seconds off my time. I was thrilled! Nice pike in the dive, not sure where that came from, but you can totally see how late I was off the blocks.

50 breast was next. Again, the nerves set in. I had the pre-race bathroom jitters pretty much before each race. How long have I been doing this??? 50 breast was great. I knocked 1.5 seconds off my time. I was on a roll. Then came the 100 fly. I really psyched myself out with this one. I was super nervous my shoulders would not make 4 laps of fly. They did but my time was kind of sad (I hadn't swam this event in over 13 years, so technically I got a Master best time). At that point I looked at it as having a time to beat for next year and I earned some team points! I made up for the fly with my 50 free. It was a near perfect race. First one off the blocks (I was in lane 2 right by the starter), I actually kicked the whole time (I'm not a freestyler and my kick isn't always happening) and I didn't breathe that much, it was just great. I knocked 1.5 seconds off my time and hoped to get first in my heat but was out touched by one-tenth of a second. Oh well. I was totally excited and pumped for my next race the 100 back. I just went for it. What did I have to lose? Just like the 100 fly, I hadn't swam this event in over 13 years so my time was great. I had a goal time in mind and reached it. Finally the day ended with a mixed (2 men/2 women) free relay. By the time I got home, I was starving and exhausted. My muscles felt like they were vibrating. I tried to take a nap but was too tired and restless. I ordered a pizza, watched some TV and eventually made it to bed by 8:30. I couldn't believe I had to do it all over again the next day.

I woke up Sunday morning to snow on the ground (it was 70 on Saturday!). Thank goodness we swam inside! I know Sunday would be a bit easier than Saturday as I only had 6 events - 4 individual and 2 relays. But as I stretched that morning, every muscle ached. Gotta love lactic acid! I started the day with the 200 mixed medley relay. I swam the breaststroke and didn't feel great. Next was the 50 back. Yeah for 50's! I knocked a second off my time and felt great. 100 free next and I did fine but I was getting tired. Barely made my goal time. 3 down only 3 more events left I thought. So next was the 50 fly. I wasn't in the fastest heat so I thought I had a good chance to win my heat. I went all out but got out touched by a tenth of a second. Oh well, dropped my time by 1.5 seconds. Nice! Two more races. 100 breast was next and well, I got totally into my head with this one. This was "my race" as a youngster and haven't been able to get it together for quite some time. I thought I was going to pass out on the blocks I was so nervous. My seed time was way too fast, I was swimming right next to Susan van de Lippe, the 1988 Olympic medalist in this event and will be going to the Olympic trails this June. I'm just glad I have another year to work on it. Finally the last relay, 200 free relay.

Sidenote... just like Mike, I too got fourth, in 4 of my individual events! Yes they gave out ribbons and yes I made sure I got all of mine. Hey, I need proof!

Ahhh, the meet is over and it is tailgate time! We grilled burgers and dogs, drank some celebratory beer and chatted about a great weekend for everyone.

Next up for some people, Nationals in Austin. For me...that's TBD!

Good Luck BeeGees!!!

Today is the first day of the Colorado masters state swim meet. I'm swimming Saturday and Sunday. Go BeeGees!!!

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone has a beautiful day! The Easter Bunny brought us snow. What did he bring you?

Holy Moley!

Go Nuggets!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Crazy Colorado Weather

Guess this is what they mean by crazy Colorado weather. This weekend it was warm and sunny, well warm for us, in the 50's.

Tonight we are under a...

HEAVY SNOW WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM MDT MONDAY.A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL CHANGE TO ALL SNOW THIS EVENING.THE SNOW WILL THEN INCREASE IN INTENSITY DURING THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 9 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED BEFORE THE SNOW DECREASES MONDAY AFTERNOON. A HEAVY SNOW WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL...KEEP AN EXTRAFLASHLIGHT...FOOD...AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.


I love it here!!!

My Pilates Teacher Training started today (yeah!!!) and ends December 23. Most people are so surprised to find out it is a 10 month training program, but that is normal. You want a Pilates teacher that has practical experience not someone who just read a book and memorized the sequence of exercises. I'm super excited to start this new chapter in my life but it is a bit overwhelming with the additional studio hours we have to put in and learning the anatomy. So, if you are looking for a Certified Pilates teacher in 10 months, give me a call. Or you can always stop by the studio and receive a discounted rate on a private session if you have one of us trainees teach you when we begin our apprentice teaching.

My Least Favorite Holiday

Tonight Daylight Saving Time begins. We lose one hour of sleep. For someone like me who thinks a power nap is at least two hours, this stinks. Oh well, on a bright note, the days are longer and more opportunity to get out and enjoy it!

Happy Birthday Debbie!!!

Annual Girls Weekend!

Oops, I forgot to post this. Wish I was more like Beth and posted something almost everyday. She is a very good blogger.

It was that time of the year again where my two girlfriends, Nicole and Angie, and I meet somewhere for a rowdy weekend of watching TV, shopping and going to the spa. This year we met in the OC. So I decided to make a mini vacation out of it before I met the girls to see family and friends.

I went on a lot of walks with my mom and Henry.

Went to my favorite coffee place, "The Bean." Sadly, though, I spilled my vanilla iced blended all over my parents carpet so I didn't get to enjoy it.

My mom and I got our nails done - lookin' purtty!

Bates Girls! The visit wouldn't be complete without a night out with my Bates Girls. Some of the best gals in advertising.

I got to visit with my dear friend Dawn. She just had her second baby boy, Logan. He is incredibly precious and so good! For only five days old, he was already very focused.

Here he is, with mom Dawn, a little hungover after lunch.

Finally, the girls trip!!! Me, Ang and Nic.

We were sent some edible fruit and champagne. Here's our valet, preparing the yummies for us. We were there for maybe 10 minutes and Nic and Ang were already texting the family back home.

Lookin' good and off to dinner. Then back to the room to watch TV. We are so exciting!

Went to the beach....

Saw some dolphins (the black dots in the pictures).

Last night before we leave and head back to different states. Yes, we purposely bought matching t-shirts. And just so there isn't any confusion, Nic was a cheerleader and Ang was a pom pom or was in pom. And there is a difference. I was neither so I couldn't tell you.