2011 in Review

2011 was a good year for me, it is the first year in a long time that I didn't have a significant change. But I did reach some significant goals of running a marathon and completing a half ironman. It was fun to share these accomplishments with my hubby.

January started off just the way I like it with a half marathon on new years day

I traveled to NYC for work

And Cory ran Frosey's Frozen 5 Mile race while I cheered him on because I had food poisoning

In February It snowed a lot and we ran a lot while training for our first marathon

March took me to Portland to visit my parents

and Cory and I ran the Boulder Sprig Half Marathon

In April Cory and I ran a lot!

May 1st we ran the Colorado Marathon

And we went back to Oregon for a weeding and some quality family time

June was a big month for us we completed our first olympic distance triathlon and traveled (back) to Oregon for our first half ironman. It was so much fun I hope to race Pacific Crest again someday, unfortunately it is the same weekend as IMCDA . We also celebrated 5 years of marriage.

July was a lot of travel for me, I went to San Diego for work

I work hard people!

Then Cory and I headed to Oregon (see a pattern here?) for another wedding

July also came with a knee injury that kept me from running for many months. This was a dark part of the year but I healed and will work very hard to make 2012 injury free

In August we celebrated Cory's birthday and my parents moving to Colorado

September was busy with two triathlons, a half ironman and the only sprint triathlon of the season

I went to Atlanta for the AZA conference

We celebrated my brother's and my birthday

October is always one of my favorite months. Cory and and ran 2 5ks and enjoyed lots of fun fall activities.

November We flew to Oregon and drove back to Colorado

I bought a new bike

And ran a turkey trot with my mom and husband

And we started training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene

December was full of swim/bike/run, family and fun

I hope your 2011 was wonderful and here's to an even better 2012!!

November Recap and December Goals

November was pretty good, but it FLEW by! This time of year always goes by in a flash and it makes me a little sad. Good thing Christmas is around the corner to lift my spirits!

The main thing that happened in November was that Cory and I started our Ironman training. So far so good, but we were just in the preparation phase. We start Base Building next month and I am sure things will get more intense (at least I hope they will, I am ready to kick it up a notch).

In November Cory and I drove from Oregon to Colorado

I died my hair brown (I asked for brown and ended up just darker blond and it's washing out even lighter, I think it's a sign that I am just meant to be a blond) oh and got bangs...this is earth shattering news, I know.

I enjoyed MANY red starbucks cups

I discovered Cafe Rio salads, so delicious!

I got reacquainted with my trainer, we are going to be really good friends in the coming months.

I bought a new bike!!! can't wait to actually get it.

We ran a turkey day 10k

And we swim, bike, run, trained a lot, and loved it.

Here's how I did on my goals for November:

1. Keep track of workouts better. I am participating in the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge and the Pile on the Miles so I need to keep track! Check, I have a super nerdy spreadsheet set up.
2. Run at least 70 miles check! over 85
   
3. Swim for at least 12 hours Nope, closer to 8 hours, DOH! need to get in the pool
   
4. Bike for at least 20 hours Check! lots of time in the saddle this year, it was a mistake not to do more last year.
   
5. Do my PT exercises every night No, But my PT said I didn't have to so I am ok with it.
   
6. Do abs and arms exercises three times a week YUP!
   
7. Eat healthy (except on Thanksgiving, on that day anything goes!) Mostly yes. I actually dropped weight this month, I am happy about this. I am getting closer to me "fighting weight" but this is it's own post.
   

I am happy with what I accomplished in November and here are my goals for December:

1. Have fun with friends and family before training gets too crazy
   
2. Continue to eat well 90% of the time (Christmas, and Christmas eve don't count)
   
3. Follow my training plan
   
4. Take more pictures, November pictures=fail!
   

What are your goals for December?

2010 recap and 2011 resolutions

This past year has been ridiculously good to me, I really couldn’t have asked for more. It started out with a plan to run our first half marathon that led to lots of boding time for Cory and I during our training runs. We were ridiculously proud of ourselves after each of our long training runs. After each we would proclaim “that’s the longest we have ever run”.

First race with chip timing Snowman Stampede.

This was our first winter in Colorado and we wanted to have a way to enjoy the mountains. Since we don’t ski or snowboard we decided to take up snowshoeing and LOVE it!

After twisting my ankle on a snowy trail run, I was forced to take a short break from running. At the time I was very upset but like most things, it was a blessing in disguise. We started swimming and biking while I couldn’t run which naturally led to us deciding to take on triathlons.

One unforeseen highlight of 2010 was deciding to buy a road bike, I still can’t believe how much easier it is ride than a hybrid or mountain bike.
After getting my road bike we decided to ride our first major bike race, a metric century at Elephant rock. It was so much fun!

During this time I got a major promotion at work. Honestly it wasn’t exactly a promotion, a position about four levels above me became available and I applied on the suggestion of the vice president of the company. I honestly wouldn’t have applied if she hadn’t told me that I should. Each time I got an interview, there were a total of three, I was shocked. When they offered me the job I couldn’t believe it. Still six moths later I can’t believe they had/have so much faith in me and trust me to lead so an amazing group of people.
Over the summer we competed in a few triathlons and started training for a September marathon. Unfortunately I hurt my knee and had to take a very difficult 2 months off of from running. Truth be told a teetered on the edge of depression, it is hard to believe how important this sport has become to me in such a short time.

In mid September I was able to start running again slowly, it was hard to struggle running 4 miles when before I was hurt I was running 15. I am happy to say that I have been able to run consistently this fall without too much pain and will be running a half marathon on new years day. I can’t think of a better way to start 2011. I am excited to work towards the goals I have set and the new adventures we will take on along the way.

2011 resolutions:

I know some people don’t like resolutions but I very openly LOVE them. There are a few race/health related things I would like to work on in 2011:

1. Prepare more healthy meals (Cory is our main cook, I would like to start cooking about twice a week)

2. Work on my core, I know my core is weaker than it should be so I plan on doing plank every night in January and will move on from there

3. I would like to PR in a 5k, 5M, 10k, half marathon and marathon. This should be easy given that last year was my first year racing and I only ran one (maybe 2) of each race and I have never ran a marathon, guaranteed PR =)

4. Work on sticking to my training plan. I know there are times I won’t be able to stick to it because of outside influences, but when I just don’t feel like it, suck it up!

5. Take off a few pounds (10-15) I am not technically “over weight” but I know that being lighter will be easier on my joints.

6. Be better about blogging (i.e. more consistent, better pictures, etc.)

7. Run 1,000+ miles

**more specific goals will come is the form of my monthly/weekly goals