Way too long, but here I am

WYIRUN... provides fitness to nordic ski and other activities in the Steamboat winters.

I wanted to try a year in review to start fresh on the blog since it has been so long.

January 2014:
I rang in the New Year in typical style and was in bed at 8:30. January was a month spent back from the holidays, getting my feet back under me, firming up some races for the spring and jumping on the training wagon.

 Even though it wasn't a Christmas back home, I got see this good looking girl in Jackson Hole

and spent some time, the most of the season, getting to know this mountain... Steamboat.

February 2014:

The biggest event of the season, Winter Carnival arrived and so did my parents. 

The Broncos also lost the Super Bowl, but I made these. 

March 2014:

I got to visit Page and Olav in Spain and France with my parents as the 5th wheel, which was awesome. I feel so lucky to still take trips with my parents and we had such a fantastic time!

April 2014:

Adam and I ran our first race of the spring. I was excited and pulled off a 1:28 at altitude at the North Platte Half Marathon outside of Denver. April was low key and included lots of running getting ready for the Steamboat Marathon.

May 2014:

As I trekked on yet another long run on the true course, I felt a searing pain shoot through my foot. Immediately I knew what it was. I had stress fractured my foot. This was hard, but as I got into the groove of cross training and the marathon stress off my shoulders, I was sort of relieved but sad as well. I made it through the 6 weeks pretty well considering other injuries I had before.

The only downside was another one popped towards the end of the injury.

Adam and Lonnie finished an incredible race in Fruita, CO in the half iron distance.

June 2014:

I started off injured but ended the month back at it. I discontinued with my running coach of 5 years and sort of switched directions towards triathlon which has been the best decision. For me, there were too many miles and swimming and biking were things I was excelling in, but not as efficient I could be. New schedules and new conversations were a breath of fresh air.

We spent a few days in Highland, NC with the whole family for my cousin's wedding which is always the best!

July 2014:

This month was exciting. We moved to a place with more space. I felt inundated at work which seemed to be always on the brain, but I got back into racing which was great. I raced the Steamboat Sprint Triathlon.

 Adam successfully turned this into..

 This! With tons of my help,

Racing again was amazing and was surprised what time off from running actually did to improve my running.

August 2014:

Our fun began on a mini-vacation which started out blank and lefts us full of adventures!

We started off with our trip to Lander...

 Through good 'ole Dubois

 Where we stayed in Teton National Park for a few nights.

 It rained and rained in WYOMING

We packed up and headed to SLC staying Little Cottonwood Canyon

We biked, we ran, we watched biking and ate good food.

And ended with Cadel Evan's water bottle. 

I also raced two more times (one ending in a punctured tire by lamos who through nails on the ground).

This one was a muddy Xterra Triathlon which definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. 

September 2014:

The new students are in the door and I get one breath of relief.

We planned our 1st year anniversary atop Long's Peak where we lucked out with a beautiful and early summit. 

Can't thing of a better way to top off one year with this guy.

Adam couldn't resist one football game... where the nation's top plays... Laramie, WY

Naturally, we biked there by timing the car right and picking each other up.

                                            

We raced one more time and ended with a bang in Fruita, CO which was an incredible way to finish off September. 

                                                         

                                               

October 2014:

I got some of my summer vacation in October with Adam and my parents in San Francisco and Napa. This was definitely the highlight of October.

We stayed here in Napa which just screamed relaxation on its own.

 It even had a spaceship coffee maker. It was delicious.

 Our hosts laid out quite the spread prior to my first half marathon in eons

There were more hills than I could have dreamed of, but pulled out the win so I could make it to a good breakfast.

 We wine tasted and wine gazed for a pretty picture perfect Napa experience.

I also managed to get these two on a bicycle which we took to the 'bar right across the bridge.' Ten miles later, we made it.

November 2014:

While there aren't many pictures to reflect, I attended a conference in Disney world and managed to meet these two.

                                           

I also hosted a Thanksgiving, which was full of a chest cold, family, mis-matching tableware and some darn good food.

 December 2014:
Back east we went, starting in NYC followed by KV.
We got to have a mini Brooks reunion.
                                             

Reenacted picture from high school

                                                     
And see the Book of Mormon as well as run around Central Park a few times.

I managed tons of reading and cinnamon rolls in the setting below.

We all showed off our new Djellabas fresh from Morocco.

2015:

It's here in all of its glory. I am not a huge fan of resolutions because typically, if I want to make a change, I start working on it on the spot instead of putting it off. Also, my goals for the year usually involve training and running goals. I am starting this year off a little differently. After a major learning curve year in my current professional position, I am eager to use what I have learned and maintain a smart, healthy work/life balance. With this, I am looking forward to less worrying, using stress coping skills, not sweating the small stuff and having more compassion and empathy for myself and others. 

That's all she wrote.. for now.

Ready to roll and Go Wyo

WYIRUN... something to improve upon (alluding to getting beat out on a run at the Desert's Edge Triathlon)

A few weekends ago, Adam and I both singed up for the Desert's Edge Triathlon

After the tack incident, I wanted to give it a go. We drove down on Saturday, camping at the venue that night and a quick ride on the course. I was a little lethargic headed down there, thinking 2 hours was a lot to drive for a race where I felt the normal feelings of, 'this is going to hurt,' ' I don't want to try hard,' and 'why do I do this?'

Heather Gollnick had come down from SBS too and all of the women started together. On the morning of the race, the weather was fantastic and we had decided to work together on the swim. As soon as the gun went off, I wanted to try. I felt Heather on my feet for a little over the first half of the swim and finally did a little stopping to get her up front. This was great until we swam directly into the sun and I am instantly blinded. Regardless, we got out of the water at around the same time. I transitioned quickly to get out first and then try to keep Heather in my biking sights. Oops. Didn't work and without any time or mph gauge, I was just pushing and debating in my head whether it was hard enough. In the end, most top women biked faster than I did, but my swim and run made it up. Stopping on a false flat to check if my tire was flat did not help my time.

Thanks to Skipix.com

I was excited to get out on the rolling dirt path run. My legs didn't quite have the pep I was expecting and the two laps seemed tough mentally, but I pushed the turn over to get in the groove. Heather was in our sights, and at about Mile 2, a woman passed me. I tried to hang and it seemed like mentally, I wasn't there and didn't have the run training to do so. I kept her there, but a gapped form. As we came into this finish, Heather crossed first, 30 seconds, 2nd woman crossed, 30 seconds, I crossed. It was great to have a competitive race with two strong woman all with our various strengths.

Adam came over in 4th which made our afternoon in downtown Fruita at Camilles Kaffe so much sweeter with some top notch sandwiches.

The following weekend, we satiated Adam with a Wyoming Football game. Our transportation was both on bikes and a car. I rode the first 50 Miles to Laramie, over Rabbit Ears and couldn't have asked for a more scenic ride.

With some family friendly tailgating, we sat in a quiet area of the Wyoming stands where Adam made sure to cheer for everyone. Thanks buddy! Re-living his glory days as Wyoming's (best football team out there) biggest fan!

Go Pokes!

Off to Napa for some time with my parents and the first go at a half marathon in quite a while.