Update 2012 Race Schedule

I am reading A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway. While I’ve never been a fan of Hemingway I love reading him now. I think I read his fiction in high school but I don’t remember his books.

Since watching Midnight in Paris I want to read about Hemingway and the Fitzgeralds, and their time in Paris.

Thus, I am reading A Moveable Feast - a book about his time in Paris in the 20s. I really like his tales of writing in cafes and walking the streets of Paris. He tells readers at the beginning of the book that he doesn't remember everything exactly (he's writing this towards the end of his life) and there is a chance there is some fiction in it.

He admits he is still learning the writing craft.

He writes,

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

And

“I knew too that I must write a novel. I would put it off though until I could not help doing it."

and
"What did I know best that I had not written about and lost?
What did I know about truly and care for the most? There was no choice at all.”  

I’m going to read The Sun Also Rises next.

Ironman, Life, and Getting Your Ego Checked at the door

I love this article about finishing an Ironman.

Out There: Getting My Ego Checked

My experience was a bit different after finishing Ironman. After my first race, I was in a fog after finishing. I only wore my finisher medal until I got back to my hotel room, and took it off to shower. I never wore it again. I actually don’t even know where it is now. I didn’t wear the medal after my second finish either. It’s not about the medal.

I didn’t feel particularly special when I finished Ironman Coeur d'Alene because like the TSA agent said in Lacke’s story, thousands finished the race.

Ironman isn’t my identity. My identity comes from my family and my friends. I’d rather be identified as a writer, sister, daughter, athlete.

I love Lacke’s story because while being a triathlete makes me fit, it also introduces me to so many new people, every day. I think it’s this way for many of us.

Yes, I want to do more Ironman triathlons because it gives me purpose and a direction to my life; and it makes me fit. Yes, it’s a conversation piece and I have the stickers on my car.

But primarily, I like the conversations it creates because I have finished an Ironman. I like telling stories about Ironman and love hearing stories about my friend's first 70.3. I love seeing the fire in their eyes about a future event; and I want to see the doubt disappear when we talk about long course racing.

I love talking about motivation and inspiration, and learn what drives people to do the things they do whether it is Ironman, CrossFit, a 100 mile run, or a sprint distance triathlon.

I firmly believe, it's about the people you meet along the way.

I like how Lanke ends her article,

"Don’t get me wrong—I still relish in the accomplishments that come with running and triathlon. And when I spot others like me out and about, we exchange knowing glances. (Endurance athletes can spot each other easily. Maybe it’s the fierce look in their eyes. OK, it’s probably their calves.) Either way, that brief smile and nod says it all: You’re an Ironman. You stud, you."

Welcome 2012, It will be a good year

Just got back from my last of the evening walk with the dogs. The moon was shining on the snowy slope and reflected the chairlift on the ground. This reflection made me think that this is where I have always dreamed of living. Maybe not this particular place, but this type of place. This type of place is on a ski mountain. This type of place is where I can walk out my door to hiking, skiing, trails, running, and mountain biking. I thought of the For Sale sign in my window and what I would do if it actually did sell. Where would I go and what would I do?

I love the possibilities of it all. I love the possibility of being a triathlon coach. I love the possibility of qualifying for Kona. I love the possibilities of all the things I want in life.

Tonight I think of all of this while living, in what tonight was, a dream-like place with the moon inducing a reflection in the snow of a chairlift.

I needed this walk tonight to remind me of what is important and to keep me focused on the future; and the present moment - both equally important.  I believe that all the events that have happened to me have brought me to this present moment. And, just early today I was reading,  Rainer Maria Rilke’s book, Letters to a Young Poet and read, “Be patient that is unresolved in your heart, try to love the questions themselves.” I’ve read this passage before, but never in the context of a letter. He is writing to Herr Kappus and he discusses solitude, “Your solitude will be your home and haven even in the midst of very strange conditions and from there you will discover all your paths.”

Happy New Year.

Top 10 Adventures in 2011

Everyone is doing their top 10 lists so I thought I'd join the fray.
Here's my list of my Top 10 Adventures from 2011

1.    Chilly Cheeks Duathlon in the snow and wind with Kim and Karen.

2.    Travelling to South Dakota with Sue and visiting Rory, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands

3.    Going to Washington DC for a writing conference and seeing favorite writers such as David Gessner, Pam Houston, and Bob Cowser.

4.    Hanging out with Than and Mark in Coeur d’Alene

5.    All the road bike rides in Grand County with George and Kim in every temperature and every weather event.

6.    Mountain biking on snow packed roads with Karen.

7.    Isle of Shoals trip with my family in New Hampshire

8.    Riding my bike for the number 1 racer to follow in Granby’s first Half Marathon

9.    Taking a Hunter Education class and now I am able to hunt (if I want to)

10. Living every day in the mountains of Colorado is always an adventure.

Mountain Biking in Winter

My new favorite cross training sport is mountain biking on snow covered roads. I may not have tried biking in the cold if it wasn't for a party conversation with my friend Anne who told me about her mountain biking adventure on Cty Rd 73 in Fraser on a cold fall morning. She wore her ski pants and ski gloves to stay warm. I was inspired, but I also knew I was going to have to get used to the cold since I signed up for Chilly Cheeks duathlon in Denver. The race series consists of three races: bike and run, run and bike and run, lastly, run and bike and run and bike. 

I started riding my mountain bike up the dirt road near my house that goes through a residential area and tops of almost near the top of East Mountain. It was all uphill, and hard.

Today my training plans states: 60 minute bike ride. Since this ride only takes 20 minutes from my house to the top I needed to get creative. So, I exploreed different dirt roads covered with snow. One new area I found had car tracks leading to the top. I started up it and had to stay in the tracks or I would slide. It was great technique-practice; I had to keep my eyes forward so I wouldn’t ride out of the tracks and wipe out. It was like riding single track - staying focused ahead of the trail instead of staring at the ground under my feet.

Riding snowpacked roads also allows me to practice balance.

It was a great 60 minute ride in the sun, but cold. I got my ride in and can chill out the rest of the day.

Merry Christmas

How to Get in the Holiday Spirit

In case you are trying to get in the holiday spirit, here are some ways that I am working on:

• Shop early
• Don't skip workouts.
• Wish people that you meet a happy holiday with a smile.
• Drop spare coins in the Salvation Army collection buckets.
• Do something nice for someone.
• Volunteer your time to a worthy holiday cause.
• Organize a drive at work to collect food and personal items and donate them
• Don't skip workouts.
• Play Christmas music.
• Watch "It's a Wonderful Life"
• Think about what you'd like Christmas to mean and how you can work towards that goal.
• Be Inspired by Traditions.
• Don't skip workouts.
• Bake cookies and cupcakes
• Make a new tradition
• Make a Christmas CD
• Throw a holiday party.
• Don't skip workouts.
• Go see a Christmas play

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” ~Charles Dickens

“I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” ~Charles Dickens