It has perhaps dawned on me why I did not keep up with my blog years ago... I have nothing to write about! Ha! This is my warning that you're about to read a lot of randomness so beware!

On the training side, things are going pretty well... I am feeling pretty strong on the bike considering it is March and I live in Wisconsin. The weather has actually been cooperating a bit and I've been out on 4 or 5 nice rides already. I forget how much I love riding my bike! I also have to brag about what great friends I have... they're always willing to push their limits to go out with me to keep me company. I always have to laugh because they say there's no way they can go that distance and then they knock it out like always. Serious rockstars! Yes KW, I'm talking about you! :) Anyway, since I'm currently enjoying the biking I've decided to give my leg a little more time just to be sure. I'm in no hurry to run. My early season races have been taken off the schedule already so the pressure is off and I think that if I give the fracture another month to heal it will be better for me physically and hopefully take away some of the anxiety I have about re-injuring it. I might still have sights on the Madison half marathon, but if that doesn't happen but I get to the line at IMWI healthy and running, I'll take it!

The other thing I must say is making my life soooo much easier is having someone tell me what I should be doing for my workouts. It is allowing me to put trust in someone that knows way more about it than me and believe that I am going to get better for it rather than stress about what I think I should be doing. When left up to my own devices, I overdo it every time. I'm not very good at sitting still! :) For the first time in a long time I'm able to work hard and enjoy it because I'm not second guessing that I'm doing something wrong. Step one in my de-stressing!

Swimming has actually been going fairly well too. I'm not sure when that changed up, but I'm feeling pretty strong and it's showing in relation to some of my lane partners. Now my goal is to learn the flip-turn. Every once in awhile I get motivated to try, drown and then give up... Well, I'm back and trying it again and true to past, I feel like I'm doing my best to drown myself. I forget, is chlorine good or bad for the sinuses? :) I'll keep you posted on this one...

On the life side, things have been good... the puppy, Bailey, is absolutely hilarious! She is picking up on her big sister's habits which I am so excited about. I was so afraid that by getting another puppy Nilla (yes, named after the ever so delicious Nilla Wafer!) would lose her actions that I love so much... greeting me at the door with a toy in her mouth, wiggling and grunting out of control before taking off to do laps around the house... giving me hugs (yes, she seriously gives HUGS - only to me though... I feel special :) ) but happily, Bailey is picking right up on the process. Occasionally they battle over wanting the same toy, but for the most part I have two pups each with a toy in their mouth parading around the house wiggling and snorting. I love it. It makes any day better regardless of how bad it was going up until that point. That being said, man the transition to spring sucks with puppy paws! I think the carpet is permanently the color of mud. Such is life right?

So as I was saying before, I've got the best friends ever... EVER! Everything we do is fun and makes me happy... although I think we found a new favorite for the month of March. Saturday night 3 girls and I went to Watertown for a charity scavenger hunt... a couple margaritas later we were grabbing our 3 1/2 page list of things to find within the town and were off... It was SUCH a blast!! Only to be made better by the fact that WE WON!!! Yup, sprinting to the finish, the pink team won the scavenger hunt (topping off our list with a pic of the sheriff and two of our ladies in handcuffs) we walked away with a trophy and a $200 prize. Not bad... it was so much fun! I'm not sure what will top that one next month...

Otherwise, laying pretty low... working on getting more sleep and eating better for my body. This is a huge struggle for me as I LOVE sugar... and all the bad carbs, but I'm going to see what I can do because I know that I feel better when I behave :) I'll be looking forward to my one "free day" a week!

So that's it for now, I'm sure there's more rambling I could do but I suppose I should get into the work day. Thanks for reading and hope you're having a great week!

Smiles,

B

I've been away for awhile... over a year actually. The good news is that I haven't stopped living or competing... just blogging! I've thought about starting this back up once in awhile but just never found the desire to jump back in, however recently my friend convinced me that this might be exactly what I need to start the year off on the right foot. So... after much fussing over the new look for my page, I'm ready to start again. This is going to be a good year despite the rocky start. Let me tell you why... 

The year hasn't begun optimally... but lets back up a bit first. In September I finished my 5th Ironman (all of which have been IMWI - it's just too easy if it's in your hometown!) Despite concerns that I wouldn't reach my goal which is simply to PR each year, I managed to pull out my best time, and on short training. It was a beautiful year and it treated me well. 13 hours, 15 min and some change... weather was a little windy for me, but otherwise gorgeous, nothing hurt and in the end I wasn't too sore... Spent 10 days in Hawaii a couple weeks later and threw a few races in here and there. From here, it's been an interesting start to the year for me... work has been crazy, and I'm currently sporting a sweet stress fracture in my right tibia (apparently in a really hard to heal spot!). I must admit, the SF is really taking a toll on me, more mentally than physically... I have (had?) a lot of events on my schedule for the year and the docs aren't sounding overly confident which makes me nervous. The good news is that over the past year and a half I have made the best friends I have ever had in my life. My support crew is amazing and motivating and endlessly selfless and I wouldn't know where I would be without their love and support. They're getting me through it day by day and this is where my new story begins...

This year I'm going to strive to achieve new goals both in life and sport... to become faster, healthier, happier, more confident, more assertive, less stressed and just have more fun. I've got the right group around me, I just need to let go and let it happen. I've got this awesome coach who swears I can be fast and enjoy it... I'm silently betting him, but I trust him so we'll see how it goes. The main goal for the season? Get to the line for IMWI in September happy and healthy and hopefully a bit faster than last year. In the meantime, I'll keep you posted as the year and season progresses. I have high hopes for a fabulous year. I don't think I'll be disappointed. I mean hey... I moved up a wave in the Korte without training with a fracture in my leg! That's already a start right?!?! Thanks for checking me out and if you decided to stick around, here's to the goals and adventures yet to come!

Oh, and one more thing... I now have 2 goldens, one being a 4 month old puppy named Bailey. She and Nilla (2.5 years) are great friends and keep life very entertaining... expect to hear some wild stories out of them... they keep me on my toes! 

Smiles... B