Let's Hear It For The Girl!!!

I am so proud of my best friend, Janene! She finished her first 10K yesterday and was 4th in her age division!!! She rocks! I am so proud of her! She has always been such a great example to me...and she never ceases to amaze me! I love you, J!!!!

Le Tour de la Legacy Parkway, UTAH

Yesterday was the Legacy Parkway Tour. I have never ridden my bike that far or for that long all at the same time. My hindside is sore!! I have a new respect for those who do long distance bike riding. Holy cow! The ride was fun and for a good cause. I am seriously thinking that I want to get a road bike... Here is a fun picture of the "finishers"!

Legacy Parkway Tour

Visit http://www.active.com/ for more race details and to register!

Injured = Pain = No Fun for Me

The week of the Share a Smile Tri, I was ignoring an injury. I kept telling myself that I would be fine. (Knowing in my mind that I would not). There was nothing that was going to keep me from doing the Share a Smile Tri. I kept telling myself, and others, that I will not have an injury until AFTER this race. Well, It's been a week since the race. RICE therapy did NOT work (my usual standby). So I went to the InstaCare this morning. Great way to spend the holiday weekend, don't you think? X-rays showed no bone damage. Thank goodness. But, I do have bursitis and Achilles tendonitis. The doctor said "no more tri's, my friend" and "get thee to physical therapy". So I stay off my foot, and go to physical therapy. Biking is "okay" says Dr. Burton, so I can still participate in the Legacy Tour. Temperatures dropped DRAMATICALLY this week and so I am excited for some crisp, fall air rides. More updates on the injuries later. I am not happy about this...

We came, we TRI'd, we kicked some ASPHALT!

After all the hype, after all the anticipation, after all of the training, the Share a Smile Triathlon 2008 is officially in the record books! We had an amazing turn out of family and friends! The pictures certainly say a lot, but do not tell the whole story. So I will supplement the pictures with the following narrative:

Wende:: The Giddy Up Girl:: Appearing in her first triathlon, she narrowly missed getting hit by a car on the bike portion of the race. Despite her near miss with a vehicle, she persevered and finished her first race with flying colors! After the race she commented that she will NEVER do another tri again. BUT, after returning to Omaha, she admitted that she may give a tri another go! You are a ROCKSTAR, Wendel! You inspire me and I LOVE YOU!

Dennis:: The Not So Missing Link:: The veteran triathlete beat his personal best in this race by SIX minutes! He grabbed my bum as he passed me on the bike course...somehow I wonder if that is not an illegal maneuver in a USAT sanctioned event... :) Believe it or not, this is the first race Den and I have competed in together! Here's to many more, Babe! I love you!

Tryon and Sally:: Gone in 60 Seconds:: This terrific tri team made their debut on the race scene at Share a Smile Tri and the tri world will never be the same!! With extremely fast transitions, this duo is a force to be reckoned with! It should be noted that Sally made it possible for Suz to participate by creating a relay team. What a champ!! AND, Tyron's parents were there to cheer the group on! That's right! We had fans from CANADA on the course cheering us on! Thanks for your support Jane and Merlin!!! We love you!

Zach:: Top Gun:: As always, a serious competitor whether he will admit it or not. I am not sure if he was REALLY worried that Wende had a chance to beat him, but he appeared to leave nothing to fate. He was in the water ahead of all of us and didn't look back. I loved getting passed by him on the bike course. He's always been a great cheerleader for any of us in anything we choose to do. Race day was no different. Thanks for your never ending support. I love ya, Bro.

Suz:: The Pedal Princess:: Pretty in Pink and our Pedal Princess, Suz took to the bike course like a woman on a mission. And, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. She did her relay team proud as she kicked some serious tail in her leg of the race. This mother of the two cutest boys on the planet has vowed to REGISTER EARLY for next years race and to do the whole thing! I am proud of you, Sis!

Josh and Melissa:: The Right Stuff:: I seriously think Josh rode up the hill on the bike course faster than I went DOWN the hill on the course. I could have sworn he was riding on air. It is obvious he has a talent for riding hills. Melissa was smiling when she passed me on the bike portion of the race and on the run. This tells me that either 1) She was really having a good time, or 2) She is a really good actress under a lot of physical strain and pressure. I like to believe that she was having a good time. Melissa and I swam a few times for training. It was great to have someone to chat with across the lane lines at the pool. I look forward racing with Josh and Melissa again! Y'all RULE!

Cheering us on:: Dad, Sherri, Maryanne and Geri, Kim and her CUTE girls, Natasha and Taylor, Jane and Merlin, Mom and Sharma...We could not have done this race without you! Your love and support did not go unnoticed. I felt like the most loved and luckiest racer on the course knowing you all were there either on the course or with us in spirit. You are the reason we TRI.

Last but not least, and yes I was the last of our group to cross the finish line...with a little help from my friend, Easton. I cut 11 minutes off my time from Vegas. And, the fact that I am MOST proud about...I passed someone on the bike course. I smiled for a mile!

I am not sure if I will do another tri this year. I think Zach, Suz, and Dennis and I will do the 20 mile Legacy Tour (a bike ride) on September 13. After that, we look to next year for the next race. Dennis may do the Turkey Trot Tri in November. More on that as race day gets closer. Until then, happy trails and happy training! May the sun shine on your face and you have a good wind at your back.

Love and hugs...H2

It's the Final Countdown!

Hey Racers! We are getting really close to the XTERRA and Share a Smile triathlons!! Are you excited? I AM!!! I am going to send out a "ride the course" date for the week of August 18th for the Share a Smile race. Right now I am thinking it will be the evening of August 19th. For those of you that want to ride the course, keep looking at this blog for updates and details. From the race director, the "hill" in the course was descibed like this: "Good question. I am not a biker, so I think it is a little steep but not too long. My boss is a biker and thinks its no big deal. Does that help? Its not too bad or I would never have agreed to change the course, I am a whimp!"

In another matter...The image of the kokopelli for the race shirts we have ordered was not at a high enough resolution to use for our "team" race shirts. Therefore, I had to switch up the design a bit. The shirts you ordered will now have the design you see above. Sorry for the change. I hope you like this one. (If you will bring your money for the shirts you ordered to the race, I would appreciate it!!! My credit card has already been charged for the order!)

Happy training and I will see you all soon!!!

Iron Girl Las Vegas

If you are sitting around the house on Saturday 26 July 2008, turn on your television around 12:30 pm MT.

UNITED We TRI

We are getting close to race day for the Share a Smile Triathlon! Only four weeks until we should all start our tapers for race week! Are you getting your miles in on your bike? Are you getting your laps done in the pool? Are you getting the minutes in running around town? I know summer months are cRaZy months for trying to get workouts in! So keep up the good work! You will love the feeling you will have after you cross the finish line on August 23rd! Just a reminder: We are putting an order together for race shirts for our "tri crew" for this race. The logo is above. If you'd like a shirt, let me know ASAP. We need to order soon. Again, $15 for a t-shirt, $20 for a tech shirt. We will all look so cool in our shirts! Good luck in the remaining weeks of training! Let me know about shirts! Even if you are not racing with us this time, if you think you might want to race with us in the future, get a shirt! Or, if you just want to support the UNITED We TRI crew, get a shirt! And you can look cool, too! You know the line from the movie "Grease"..."If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!" Ciao for now!

Go Green or Go Home

Gas prices are at an ALL time high and show no sign of slowing down. I thought about buying a scooter to ride here, there and everywhere, but decided that I should save my money. Instead, I have decided to bike to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yes, I am crazy. But, this accomplishes two things. 1) I am getting my workout in for the day. 2) I am saving money. So, please drive super safe on Tuesdays and Thursdays...and be nice to other bikers on the road EVERYDAY!

Lost in a Parking Lot

I left this afternoon for a walk with my work-walk-buddy, Laura. We decided to do the Jordan Parkway route and enjoy a stroll by the river. We decided when heading back that we were going to see if we could find a short cut through the parking lot of an apartment complex. I had to draw the line at climbing a fence. We finally made it back to work...sweaty, hot, and winded. I am so out of shape. I have got to up the intensity, frequency, and duration of my workouts. XTERRA knocks at the door...

Sharma and I have been designing a t-shirt for the race in August. Looks like we have come up with a winner. If you only knew how many versions of this design there were...Wow. Hats off to graphic designers. There are folks traveling from many different lands to compete in the Share a Smile Tri. A large group of us from UTah, Sharma from IDaho, and Wende from NEbraska. I took the abbreviations for each state and came up with UNITED. Thus: UNITED WE TRI.

If you'd like a shirt, let me know by 18 July 2008. Cost is $15 for a t-shirt, $20 for a tech shirt. Design is below! Will someone turn the AC on?

Let The Games Begin!!!

With the Olympics just around the corner, and warmer weather knocking dangerously on Utah's door, I am very excited to start training in earnest for triathlon events this summer! Dennis and I did not do the Shark Attack tri last weekend. He has a stress fracture and my knees are just barely getting "better" after our trip to Japan. (I know I need to have my knees scoped and cleaned up...but I am procrastinating.) Zach and Tyron and I are doing the XTERRA Mountain Championship in Ogden in August. We are doing this race as a relay. I will swim, Zach will mountain bike, and Tyron will do the trail run. Zach has done this race in the past and says it is a BLAST! I am looking forward to it. The FOLLOWING week, many friends and family (Wende and Sharma are coming!) are gathering to do the Share a Smile Triathlon in Orem. If you will remember, this was the FIRST race I did last year. So keep the following dates on your calendar :: Saturday 16 August 2008 :: XTERRA MOUNTAIN CHAMPIONSHIP and Saturday 23 August 2008 :: Share a Smile Triathlon. See you all at the races!

More Iron Girl Photos

Divas Las Vegas!

I honestly can't believe I finished the innagural AFLAC IRON GIRL LAKE LAS VEGAS TRIATHLON!!! My race was not pretty, and it was not fast, but I finished! Yeah, the guy in the white suit on the beach in front of the competitors... yeah, that's Elvis. And yes, that is a large inflated duck in the background. "AFLAAAAAC!"

The swim really threw me for a loop. The swim was seriously the ONE thing I was not worried about. I love to swim! I am a good swimmer! The water in Lake Las Vegas was sooooo very cold! I was not able to get my face in the water, get a good rhythm going, and really get moving! The swim took me three times as long as I anticipated. Every time I would try to get something together as far as a stroke was concerned, the tempurature of the water totally took my breath away. I finally calmed myself down, created a new breaststroke, and somehow managed to finish the 600 meter frigid swim. Sharma hauled in the water! I was so proud of her! She took off on the beach and never looked back! I wouldn't see Sharma again until my second loop on the bike course. On to T1:

I made it out of the water and then up the hill to the transition area. I did not practice getting out of my wetsuit "quickly". I saw women spraying Pam Cooking Spray on the outside of their wetsuits before the race. Now I know why. I was having a rough time getting my right foot out of the wetsuit for some lame reason. Finally, I sat down in the transition area and took the darn thing off. While I was still seated, I put on my shoes and SOCKS!!! Yes, I remembered socks this time! But, alas, wearing socks still did not prevent me from getting blisters on my big toes. Oh well, what's an endurance race without some sort of injury to show for it? I left the transition area and headed out on the bike.

Loop #1 was okay. Big climb (for me) was the first on the agenda. I walked my bike. I really need to get over my mental block for biking and hills. Note to self: Work on that. After climbing a hill, you get to go down the hill. This was GREAT! I think I hit my all time top speed ever of over 18 miles per hour! I don't like to go down hills either... Note to self: Work on that. At the bottom of the hill, yet another climb was laid out in front of me. Steeper than the first, but a shorter distance. Again, what goes up, must come down. Hooray!

As I began Loop #2, what should my wondering eyes should appear? SHARMA!!! She had just come off the hills of the run portion of the race. She looked great and looked as if she was finishing strong! Of course she was finishing strong! Loop #2 was much harder. Could it be that I was getting very tired? Or was it simply the fact that I am just not that great on the bike? Probably a combination of the two. But I finished. I completed the bike. Final leg: The 5K run.

Here's Sharma...coming into the transition area from the run...See how strong she looks?? :)

T2 to run. The first part of the run was long, slow, and very dusty. Not to mention, we got to climb two killer hills in the dust. The NBC helicopter filming the pros was doing a really good job of kicking up more dust and debris. I met the coolest lady on the run. Ms. Linda from Virginia Beach. She was great! We finished the race together. She was so positive and so supportive. Aren't we cute? (I'll post a better picture of us at the end of the blog!)

Dennis actually walked with Linda and me as we finished the race. Nearing the finish line a race volunteer kicked Dennis off the course. The pros were passing us. I don't feel bad about that at all...the pros passing us. You go, girls!!!

As I finished the race, I accomplished a goal of mine: to finish smiling. It was not hard to finish smiling because I had my husband, my mom, Sharma, Nate, and their kids, my aunt Ilah, and Jeremy there to cheer me on. How could I do anything BUT smile? I gave Linda from Virginia Beach a hug and that was it. We were done.

Here are some fun finish photos:

Here is Hollie and Linda from Virginia Beach:

Another WAY COOL thing that happened was that I met Judy!!! She was as warm in person as she was in our email communications. I do hope we stay in touch and that we "bump" in to one another at future races! Thanks again, Judy for all your words of encouragement and support! You are a ROCKSTAR!!!

And now, for my tribute: To my training partner, and neurotic "twin"...Sharma. Girl, I could not have done this without you. You are truly the poster child for IRON GIRL. I am amazed and inspired by you. I love you!!!! I can't wait to race with you again!

Race Week!

Believe it or not! It is FINALLY race week! It seems like forever since I registered for the Iron Girl! And it kind of has been forever! I registered on 10 December 2007! I am excited, ready, nervous, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I swam in my wetsuit on Saturday. Love, love, LOVED it!!! Thanks ZOOT for a great suit! Sharma has a ZOOT suit, too! We'll be twinners! I went to REI on Saturday for some race day nutrition. I guess I need to just start putting my gear in my bags and get ready to hit the road!!! More to come after the race this weekend! Wish me luck! See you at the finish line!!!

The Ice Has Been BROKEN!!!

Dennis finished his first triathlon of the 2008 season on March 29, 2008. He officially "broke the ice" at the TimpTri Club's Icebreaker Tri. He did AWESOME!!! I am so proud of him! He beat his time from the Turkey Trot Tri by 3 minutes! Dennis said he felt stronger during this race which is a wonderful thing! Next up for Dennis is the SHARK ATTACK TRI the end of May.

I am less than 2 weeks away from the IronGirl race in Las Vegas. Watching Dennis do the Icebreaker I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I am grateful for Sharma and her encouragement and the walk and swim workouts this week. I am excited to be getting my bike back from its spring tune up on Friday so I can get a few more miles in before next week. All in all, I am feeling confident and ready for the challenge. I will certainly post pictures and comments from the race as soon as I can.

So here's to all of the triathloners who have started or will start the race season soon! Good luck and God speed! Here's to sunshine, tailwinds, and finish lines! See you at the races!

To Judy

I had a large package delivered to my home on Friday. I was racking my brain trying to figure out what I had ordered from where. For the life of me I could not remember ordering anything. I double checked the label to make sure the package was addressed to me. Yup, the package was addressed to me. Then I checked the return label to see if I could determine where this package came from. Still no luck figuring out the from whence the package came. So I grabbed a knife from my kitchen drawer and opened the package. And what did my wondering eyes behold? PINK. The package was an IRON GIRL care package, from THE Iron Girl, herself. I have no idea how to thank her. Based on what I know about THE Iron Girl, here is how I have decided to thank her:

1) I am going to add strength training to my workouts

2) I am going to find a nutritionist to work with

3) I am going to purchase a heart monitor to assist me with making my workouts more effective

4) I am going to begin to log/journal my workouts, my food, my feelings, my victories, and not-so-victories

5) I am going to finish the Aflac Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas happy and smiling

Judy, I hope that someday I can thank you in person for the package that arrived on my doorstep on Friday. Until then, I hope this post will have to do. Your heart is truly in the right place and your support is exactly what I needed when I needed it. THANK YOU!!! (The collars went snowshoeing yesterday and a pair of socks went for a ride and a run today...)

Shark Attack Tri

Not to get too ahead of ourselves, Dennis and I have registered for another race in May. (May 31, 2008) We are racing in northern Utah in the Desert Sharks Triathlon Club annual Shark Attack Triathlon. Should be fun! More details to follow!

The Romping and Stomping of it All

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for snowshoeing!!! It was absolutely gorgeous for the Romp to Stomp this morning. It wasn't long before I was sweating and really enjoying the event. Some good friends, Josh and Melissa "HenderMillerson" joined us. They are great company and even better friends! I made a LAME BRAIN mistake and didn't eat anything before the race this morning. Not so bright on my part. Note to self: You can't expect your body to want to do what you want it to do with no fuel. Lucky for me, Josh had a granola bar in his parka which he graciously gave to me. Another note to self: You will need fuel before and DURING the upcoming tris you'd like to do. I should probably do some reading on sport nutrition. You'd think...after being an athlete for most of my life I would have learned a thing or two about sports nutrition. One way or the other, I need to educate myself. Today was a wake up call. I have a great deal of training to do to ensure that I will cross the finish line in Vegas. One way or the other I WILL cross the finish line in Vegas.

Here's to more days of snowshoeing! Is there such a thing as a snowshoe bunny?

What Lies Ahead...

It's a new year which means mapping out a tri season! Dennis and I are both signed up for races early this year. Dennis is first up in the 2008 TimpTriClub Icebreaker Triathlon. Saturday March 29, 2008 beginning at 9 am. Swimming will still be indoors. Dennis will tell you that I am kicking his butt in the pool...But I can tell he is improving!!!!

I will be appearing in my first sprint distance triathlon a few weeks later. Saturday April 12, 2008 beginning at 7 am I will be hitting the OPEN water in the 2008 Aflac Iron Girl Lake Las Vegas Triathlon. I am really excited about this race! My "training partner" in Idaho, Sharma, is also doing the race...her first as well! I can't wait to experience the "girl power" in this race and all the fun stuff that is associated with a trip to Vegas!

Dennis and I have looked at other races this summer and are looking forward to what should be a really fun summer! At least we're gonna "TRI"!!!!