This week has been crazy at work. Max my sales rep is out so I’ve been playing sales rep/still taking care of my other two reps. I was pretty worked up the last two days leaving work so I decided to get my long run done yesterday. It was a little chilly so I thought maybe I would take my wimpy butt to the gym but decided I needed a good dose of fresh air.

I took off in my neighborhood and right away realized it was a little chillier then I thought. I didn’t bring gloves or a headband but did have a sweatband on to hold my bangs back so I tucked that over my ears, took my watch off and readjusted my long sleeve to cover my hands, put the watch back on over my long sleeve and it seemed to be the perfect cure. Going into the wind was pretty cold but for some odd reason it felt REALLY good. I got myself lost and enjoyed the sunshine and seeing different neighborhoods I hadn’t seen before. It was a great 90 minutes of digesting my week and figuring out why I was so worked up. After a while of running I kept smelling chlorine and was so confused, I was wondering about the air quality of Plymouth until I tried biting my sleeve down (because my other hand was tucked safely in it’s sleeve) and realized it was my skin, I had swam that morning and the smell of chlorine was just oozing out as I was sweating. When I got home I felt like a new woman. It’s funny how I always dread getting out and so thankful coming back. It never seizes to amaze me!

We are fresh out of groceries and Ty and I were supposed to go on Tuesday but decided to put together some cheese slices found with the last 4 pieces of bread and made grilled cheese sandwiches. Wednesday we were gone so yesterday we were going to get groceries and sure enough we talked ourselves out of it. So we ran to Chipotle and proceeded to pound an entire burrito myself then hopped over to Noodles to get a Snicker Doodle cookie. I guess it’s a good thing I had gone for a long run☺

This morning I met Lauren for Spin Class, we got there about 20 minutes before class and it was fun to catch up but also to have someone there to work out with. Our instructor was one I had never had before and we both thought he was adorable, he was a bit older and was loving every minute of teaching spin class. His enthusiasm was just what I needed to get through this Friday, looking forward to the weekend!

Addiction

Life is busy! I can't believe it's been so long since I've written!

My favorite concert was at the Xcel center last night. Celtic Woman!! My entire family was able to come down for the second year for it. We all met at the Downtowner for a wonderful steak, to die for mashed potatoes, and a glass/bottle of wine:) and then took our full bellies to the Xcel center. My dad brought the binoculars (standard) so the entire concert we passed them down and enjoyed the angelic voices. Can't wait for next year!!

Training is going well, I'm through with my prep phase and have now started on my second week of base 1 which means a little more time in each sport but overall it's going well!

I also bought a weight workout from spinervals and I love it! Tyson came home the other day and I was doing mountain climbers in the living room and the look he gave me was priceless.

This weather has been a huge help in training and being able to get some fresh air on the runs. I still haven't taken my bike out but going to over Easter weekend, and I am really excited about it!

I have a new addiction...candy!! And it's bad. Connie my receptionist keeps a mean candy bowl and I get my grimy hands in it every time I walk by. I find myself sneaking like I'm going to get in trouble when she sees my hand in the candy bowl AGAIN! My addiction came to a new level when I saw she wasn't at her desk I snuck into her candy cupboard and took a handful of starbursts, I'm taking some serious risks now. It's got to stop! Above is from one of the many trips I've taken today...don't mind my filthy desktop calendar, good thing it's the end of the month:)

I've been googling sugar cravings and I trying to figure out how to kick it, is it just a lack of discipline? Wish me luck, I might endeavor on a "no sugar" kick. But of course that will start on Monday:)

Gramps turns 90!!

The weekend was a success! It was such a great time I must start from the beginning…

We took off around 6:30 PM Friday night; I hadn’t seen Tyson much last week so it was fun being able to have 4 hours to chat. My favorite thing to do when going to Iowa is stop at Coldstone in Albert Lea, I never go when I’m in the cities but for some reason when I’m heading to Iowa it’s a must. So around 8 I took down a Cookie don’t-you-wantsome in about 5 minutes and had a stomach ache the rest of the way. We both got so tired that we were eating candy to keep ourselves awake, that combined with looking at my phone for updates on the Gophers basketball I could barely walk into the hotel when we got there I was so sick! I downed a bottle of water and was good to go…

My parents, and my sisters Lindsay, Erica and Stef and their families were all there and in bed when we got there, so we just turned in for the night.

The only stinky thing about staying in separate rooms is you don’t know what everyone is doing at all times, so I couldn’t sleep in because I was afraid I would miss something. I rolled down to the breakfast area and everyone was up eating breakfast and chatting. It was so fun to see all my aunt and uncles, they live all over so we aren’t able to be in the same spot very often. We then proceeded to get the room set up, food put out, punch made, pictures put up and presents were wrapped. As we were setting up someone yelled “grandpa’s in the parking lot.” We later found out my grandpa was driving around the parking lot looking for Bobbi but when he didn’t see her car he decided to not come in, thank goodness!

Around 12:15 everyone started to come, we were expecting around 40 people and were totally surprised when people just kept coming! Over 80 people were in the this room and I started to panic because there wasn’t enough chairs for everyone and there were a lot of people that probably could have used one!

Finally we heard “Bill’s here” and we all quieted down and waited, when the door opened the lights were turned on and I can’t describe the look on my grandpas face. He looked so cute; he thought he was going to a birthday party for someone else. So he was standing there smiling holding onto a present. His sister who is 93 was able to make it and they hadn’t seen each other for a while, she ran up and gave him a hug and at this point I was about to start sobbing in my sisters shoulder. However I put makeup on for the special occasion and couldn’t risk the outcome. Once my grandpa was in there we were able to open the doors to the overflow room that had a ton of tables and chairs, so I was able to stop panicking about who was going to drop.

It was so much fun putting faces to names, his golfing buddies, church friends, and there were even a few that were friends with my grandpa and grandma back when my grandma was alive. Like I said before I don’t have many memories of my grandma so it was extra special to meet people who knew her and could tell me some stories.

The party started at 1 and it didn’t start thinning out until around 5, so we were all exhausted and happy to sit down and just have it be immediate family with my grandpa and Bobbi. We ordered pizza’s and just sat around and talked some more. It was starting to get late and my grandpa asked me when everything was ending and I go “oh grandpa you can go on home, it’s been a long day” and he goes “I don’t have a car”. We had forgotten his friend picked him up and took him to the party. He goes “my teeth are starting to fall out so I better get going” I about died of laughter and told him I had some bubble gum we could stick them back in with but he didn’t think it would work☺

The kids had gotten him a nice big flat screen TV to replace his little 32” box TV. It was so fun watching him unwrap it and I think he was anxious to get home and have it set up. So my dad I brought him home and got the TV in the house. My uncles came over and got it all set up and my grandpa looked pretty content sitting there with his new TV screen, it was so fun to see!
The next morning we all met for breakfast and said our good bye’s.

Ty and I got home and went for walk and I was telling him how weird it is when your with your entire family when I come “home” I’m “homesick” for everyone. I called my mom and we did a run down of the entire weekend again, and I started feeling better. I must say two days of no working out was marvelous and it felt good to want to get up the next morning and work out. After the weekend I was exhausted from all the talking and greeting but very happy and rested in a weird way. Ready to take on another week of training, work and the everyday busyness.

I just hope that when I’m 90 I can look and feel as good as good ol’ gramps and doing the YMCA!

I’ll post pictures when I get them!

Love it!

I think I'm developing that extra layer...could be the 10 pounds I've gained since I went on vacation or maybe from being in the saddle more but I was able to bike for 90 minutes this morning without a whimper...It could be from being on a spin bike but it was nice to not be uncomfortable the entire time and I wasn't even wearing two pairs of padded shorts!

I needed to get 90 minutes in today so I get to the spin room a half hour before class starts, then I can just be done when the class is done. I love doing spin, makes the time go by so fast! I have never seen muscles like our instructor so it really motivates me to pump the peddles! She's really cute and kept telling us to stay in the "moment" and don't worry about what she's going to have us do next. It was interesting because I do that a lot with everything. I'm always looking at tomorrow, next month, next vacation etc. I think I need to start being intentional about being excited for the moment and not looking ahead to the next "event".

I tried something new today after seeing Biggest Loser's host Allison last night. I noticed she had her hair parted down the middle. I rocked the middle part, hair curled up for most of my junior high years so I thought I would give it a try today. I don't quite know if I love it...

Leaving work early today and heading to Waterloo, IA to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday!! To say I'm excited is an understatement. The whole family will be there except Maggie (since she's abroad) so even if it's Waterloo, IA it will great to have a mini family vacation! Above is a picture of my grandpa at age 87 doing the YMCA, love it!

Red Wine

Last night we had our first book club meeting and Laura put it best in an email this morning sent to the members
What does great friends, lots of drinks, too many appetizers, overrated dessert, lots of laughs and a great time have in common....BOOK CLUB!

We should probably name ourselves the best friends club because it is Tanya (my best friend since the 3rd grade), Laura and her very best friend from the 3rd grade Liz. I had met Liz a couple other times but Liz and Tanya had never met, so I was a little anxious as to if everyone would feel comfortable talking etc. But we had a blast! The book we are reading is remarkable, Blink by Malcom Gladwell and it's all about the kind of thinking that is made in a blink of an eye. Thus the title Blink. The book is very thought provoking and was fun to hear what the other girls thought about the points in the book. Laura is our book club president and she really stepped it up, she had questions ready to go for us to discuss. Thanks Laura!

I LOVE red wine, but I think the red wine mixing with wings was maybe not the best decision. Plus I got home that night and realized I had forgotten to take my vitamin pack and I think the entire mixture was too much for my stomach to take. I was up a few times in the middle of the night trying to decide if I was going to throw up or not. I would walk around and things would get better and then was able to fall back asleep. 5:45 came too quickly and I decided it would be best to skip the weight workout and just try to get a swim in. I slept till 6:50 and was in the pool by 7:05, Tyson found me in the pool area and it was fun to chat with him for a bit. He was exhausted when he got home last night from small group so it was nice to finally get caught up with him from the day before. Plus I love running into him at the gym, when I see him I get all confused like I know you, oh yea you're my husband:)

Once I started to swim I started feeling better. My swim workouts consist of a warm up, main, and cool down. My plan shows me my workout and then how long it should take. 4 weeks ago my first swim workout said it would be 45 minutes, when I looked at the clock after the warmup it was already 45 minutes!! So today I was pleasantly surprised that when I finished my work out I was under the time it should have taken. Since I had a few extra minutes I hit the hot tub, as much as they gross me out having the jets hit my sore muscles is pretty great so I just forget about all the people that have peed in it...gross. I can't believe I'm still sore from this weekend; hopefully a care free weekend celebrating my g-pa's 90th birthday, no workouts and little red wine (minus the wings) will be my cure.:)

Working it out...

I'm in week 4 of training and have been told that the further you get in training the more you need to get your sleep. I love to read before bed so I've been getting into bed around 9 start reading and then usually fatigue around 9:45. Last week I was having the weirdest night sweats, like would wake up and check to see if I had spilled my glass of water on my pillow or if that was from me, and my cup was full! I keep turning the thermostat lower and lower and poor Tyson is putting up with it. I had it turned down to 63 degrees I then put on my softest socks and crawl into bed. Tyson HATES socks in bed so he's having to put up with that too, he hates even touching them, it's pretty funny!

Anywho last night I was sleeping great and 5:45 am came too quickly, since it's so cold it makes it even harder to get out of bed. I knew I had an hour run to get in and a swim so I couldn't hit the snooze. I grabbed my robe and left. I have a new routine of putting all my workout gear etc in the guest room so I don't have to get ready in the dark, I don't know why it took me so long to figure that one out, had to learn the hard way of working out with my shirt inside out or backwards too many times! Another new thing I have learned is to put my running workout before the swim. I used to dread getting out of bed because you have to get in the cold to get to the cold pool, nothing about that seemed worth leaving my warm down comforter. So now I get my run in, get real hot and sweaty then when I jump in the pool it feels great and it makes my legs feel better! It's funny what I've learned these last three weeks of training, I know when I can have the cycle room to myself, get a lane in the pool, what days the cafe special is egg and cheese quesadilla etc.

When I jumped in the pool it felt great, with my legs feeling stiff it felt good to kick around. However I don't know if it's the soreness or what but my technique or something is off. I was flapping way to much today, plus the warm up called for a few laps of back stroke which is no good for a couple reasons...1.) In the 3rd grade when I was in USS Swim my coach put me in the backstroke, which I hated and I managed to drill my head on the wall extremely hard, so now I just put my arms out and kick half the lap so that never happens again. 2.) when I do actually try to do the "back stroke" I look like a submarine merging because my body is underwater but my limbs are moving, not how it's supposed to look. I was already feeling off but I was also feeling very thirsty, I forgot to bring a water bottle and had just ran for an hour and was now halfway into my swim workout and couldn't stop thinking about how thirsty I was. I scanned the area for a drinking fountain and found one, I hopped out took a drink and as I came back to get back in the pool I couldn't figure out if I should jump in or dive in. There is a ton of people in the pool area and I was at the deep end side so I figured the dive might look more graceful...wrong. I had my goggles on and when I hit the water it felt more like a belly flop, something kinked in my leg, my goggles flung up and it felt and looked miserable. I decided my workout should just be done. I just doggy paddled to the other end and got out.

Even though I am still learning and still doing crazy things, I'm feeling more confident in my training and I think I'll be good to go at the end of July for the half-ironman. I just gotta keep working it out...

Long Lost Friend

I am loving having my bike trainer set up downstairs, this morning I rolled out of bed and 5 minutes later I am biking. I also need to get a 30 minute run in so I was going to run outside this morning. After training for Boston and running while being so cold I have NO desire to run outside until I am wearing shorts. However, I really didn't want to go to the gym and thought it might be good for me to get back out there. My hour bike ride went fast because I had taped Jason and Molly's wedding, so that was fun to watch:) Then I headed out for a 30 minute jog around the neighborhood. About 20 seconds into it I realized how much I missed running outside, the fresh air on my face and in my lungs, no crazy people blowing there nose right next to you, no TV or music, just me and the road. I love the way running outside by myself helps me clear my head, or reflect on what is running through my head. Some days I feel like ticking time bomb until I get out running and everything comes back together and I have get my rationale back.

It was so fun to explore the neighborhood and since I have no sense of direction the plan was to go out 15 minutes and come back the exact way. I got cocky. I totally thought I new where I was so I just kept going until I hit a busy road, I tried to just use some common sense as to which way I should go and then kept running. I am proud of myself because my senses were correct on direction but not distance. I ended up sprinting through my neighborhood like a maniac, the kids waiting at the end of their driveways probably thought the boogie monster was running in their neighborhood. I did get out "another great day for school" so maybe that's why they were looking at me weird:)

I didn't' have much time to stretch afterwards which is too bad because I'm pretty sore from Sunday. But overall my body if feeling pretty good once it gets warmed up. I started taking prenatal vitamins, not because I'm pregnant but I thought it would be good for me since I'm probably depleting my body and with being sick so much I thought it would be a wise investment. I was also hoping to get some glowing skin, thick hair, and beautiful nails. But hasn't happened, maybe that comes from actually being pregnant?

On my way to work I always talk to my sister Stef but today Will (her youngest son who is almost 2, whose picture is above) decided he had a lot to discuss with me. So the entire way to work he discussed things that sounded to me very important, I would say "do you love apple juice" and he would go on and on and on...I could listen to him all day!

I don't know if it's my morning run outside, prenatal vitamins or my deep conversation with my nephew Will but my day has started out on the right foot and I plan on keeping it that way...

My first 1st

I LOVE this time of year, the snow is melting, the sun is shining, and you can feel winter giving us a Minnesota good-bye.

The weekend started off great, we went to Angela and Landon's house for dinner. They just bought their house a few months ago so it was great to finally see it. It is brand spanking new and Angela has a gift I highly admire of decorating and laying out a house to make it feel like a home. Plus she also has another gift I REALLY admire and that is she is an amazing cook, I felt a little sheepish with my chips and dip from Byerly's I had bought to bring as the appetizer:) Dinner was amazing, got my butt kicked in Wits-and-Wagers, and then got to have brownies and ice cream for dessert, my favorite!!

We didn't get home till late so Ty and I decided to not set alarms and just let ourselves sleep in. It was wonderful sleeping until my eyes decided to open which was around 9:30! I knew I was getting up early the next morning so I didn't really feel guilty. Tyson made a huge breakfast and as we were eating we could see it was going to be a beautiful day out, so I was determined to find as many things to do outside. First we took a walk which was hilarious because it seemed people were coming out of there houses for the very first time. It was great to see people out and about, and fun to explore our neighborhood. Tyson needed to get a few things done inside so I shoveled our deck with a t-shirt on, it was amazing! Then I talked Tyson into peppering (play volleyball) in our driveway. It was fun to see all the people walking too! One couple was hilarious as they were walking by they said "great day to play driveway volleyball" and we laughed and said something similar and they looked at our neighbors across the street who STILL have all their Christmas decorations up (choir, manger scene, snowmen etc) and said "this is great, you even have an audience to watch!" Ty and I thought it was hilarious!

Carissa came over that night for a sleepover since we had to be at the gym around 7 for the indoor tri, so we just watched a movie, caught up and then got to bed.

The next morning we ate our usual breakfast and were out the door for the indoor tri. We were both a little hesitant to sign up since we hadn't been fully training for it. But we both agreed it had been too long since we had done a race or an event so there we were...I know it's only an indoor tri but I was still a little nervous, Carissa always gives the pep talk that we are just going to have fun, no need to race etc. But the truth is that we are both way to competitive to stick with it. I still have flashbacks to races/workouts that Carissa has said were "just for fun" ending with me not feeling my legs, lungs burning, and feeling like I'm going to puke any second. So I had to stop her and let her know I wasn't believing it!

I realized yesterday why I get so nervous for races. It's not so much the race itself but about the pain I'm going to endure. It makes sense because when I got my ears pierces, blood drawn etc I get as nervous as starting a marathon because I hate wondering how bad it's going to hurt and then when it does hurt you have to stick with it.

So the swim is 10 minutes of swimming seeing how many laps you can get. I started out way to fast and didn't breath enough so ended up with 12 laps and a huge migraine!
We got ourselves dressed for the 30 minute bike and made our way to the spin room, 10 minutes in my migraine was gone but my butt hurt soo bad, my dad told me to double up on the biking shorts but couldn't stomach looking like I had a pillow stuffed in my shorts while competing. Carissa and I were able to talk the entire time making it go by super fast. We both improved by over 2 miles so we were in good spirits heading to the treadmills for a 20 minute run. We both had gotten 2.7 miles a couple years ago so would be happy with that or better. My legs felt pretty good so I started a little faster then I expected to and was able to hold to it. I had brought my shuffle to listen to music so I found my favorite song "super girl" and then started to run hard. I finished with 2.91 miles in 20 minutes so I was happy.

Carissa and I both agreed that it had been a great morning and happy we signed up for it. However the best part of the morning hadn't happened yet, Original Pancake House. We showered up and then enjoyed some great pancakes while catching up. It was a great morning.

The rest of the day was uneventful, went for another walk, read, and watched movies with T-dog.

This morning I got a nice little email from Carissa saying that I had gotten 1st for women in the triathlon and 4th overall, Carissa got 2nd for women. We are pleased with ourselves and I'm going to enjoy my first and possibly last time getting 1st place...hopefully not:)

Filled up right...

I'm lucky in the fact that I've found my soulmate (Tyson) but yet also have a soul sister, which is my very best friend since the 3rd grade Tanya. She just bought a town home all by herself and I went down there the other night because I hadn't seen it since it was empty. When I walked in I was amazed, it looked amazing!!

I missed the part in her text saying she would cook dinner, so I was pleasantly surprised to smell warm (from scratch) bread baking in the oven. We sat in the kitchen just cooking away and then sat down to an unbelievable meal. Those for me are few and far between so i was all around giddy at this point to be sitting down to a home cooked meal with one of my favorite people in this entire world.

Dinner was delicious but more then anything it was so fun to just get caught up in life again. It's like we morph into another world. We talk about the silliest things causing us to laugh uncontrollably and then are talking about the deepest things a minute later. I have no need to be anything but honest with her because never once in my life have I felt judged, belittled, or uncomfortable telling her anything. We sat talking from 5-9 and still found myself driving home thinking of a million things I forgot to tell her (and it was a long drive home since of course I got turned around and didn't get on 494).

Going to sleep that night my belly was pleasantly satisfied, my heart was happy, and my face hurt from laughing. I was filled up right!

The Trainer

This sunshine is really putting a spring in my step or as my sister Erica would say "Stella's got her groove back". I don't know if it's been that I've been really intentional about my attitude or what but I'm feeling like myself again.

Last night I went to my sister Erica's house to see her and the family. For being so close I really don't get to see them much so it's always a treat. Micah (her oldest) is going to be 3 May 1st and when he saw me come through the door he started doing quick feet he was so excited. When you're not a mom it totally melts your heart when young kids are excited to see you. I had so much fun seeing him and Alli. Micah was so excited to show me everything in the house and would do quick feet again each time we got to something new, he was literally bursting with excitement. Being around him made me feel like a child again and just made me want to let go of the everyday worries and get excited about all the things around me!

I picked up my bike last weekend and my dad had given me his trainer so last night instead of acting like it was just one more thing to do, I was really excited to hook my bike up and see if it would all work. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me, so two calls later to my dad and Tyson interpreting an utterly confusing instruction sheet we had it ready to go! I knew I had a 90 minute ride in the morning and I really want to start getting miles on my actual bike instead of the trainers at the gym, so I was relieved we had it all figured out.

6 am rolled around and literally by 6:05 I was riding. After riding for about thirty minutes it wasn't my legs that were so uncomfortable but my butt was throbbing. Even with my extra padded biking shorts I had on, by 40 minutes I was wondering how Lance Armstrong even has 1 nut. I kept trying different positions but yowsers is that uncomfortable! If it weren't for Bill and Julianna, After the Rose, and Oprah Winfrey I probably wouldn't have been able to stay on the bike but I ended up making it through. It was awesome just being at home, making my coffee, eating breakfast etc and realized I had probably gotten ready at my house twice since we moved in. Taking my time and being at home all morning rather then getting out in the cold and trudging to the gym also made me a very happy girl and fed into my child-like spirit:)

Carissa and I are doing the indoor tri in on Sunday and I think we are both a little apprehensive but excited to be in a competition again. We'll see if my body will agree with my attitude:)