Getting It Together

After a long absence, I am hoping to get back to using this blog to chronicle my running and log training and races. I am registering for three winter races here in Denver as part of a winter distance series. It means I run a 10K in December and two ten milers in January and February. I want to PR at the 10K, and if I can stay injury free, I am on track for that right now. The 10 milers should be interesting because I have never run that distance (which means a guaranteed PR, yay!).

Cool New Swimming Website

In light of the fact that I am considering a triathlon, my brother and sister-in-law's new website is pretty timely. Check it out at http://mydailyswim.com/

Rock N Roll Half Marathon Race Report

You will notice that this is not a marathon race report. Unfortunately, EHL tendinitis kept me from running the full under doctor's orders. But a nice big cortisone shot in the top of my foot got me through the half and I am very grateful for that! :) There's not much to report about the race itself, except that it was a beautiful day and I am a huge fan of the Rock N Roll race series now. There were bands everywhere and it was so much fun!!!

Pre-race (Noah was tired!):Race start:Near the end:

Marathon Training Again

I have decided to run the Denver Rock-N-Roll Marathon in October. So far, the training is going pretty well, but it has been tough building the miles back up from the injury-induced break. I did 8.5 miles or so on a trail outside of Crested Butte on Saturday and two days later, I am still hurting. This week's mileage is 3-5-3-11 (for a total of 22), so I'll see how the foot holds up to that. Acupuncture has really helped the Plantar Fasciitis so far... hopefully that will continue.

Yellowstone Trip Report

For Memorial Day Weekend, we drove up to Yellowstone. I love that place and we have been wanting to take Noah there for a long time. So we left Friday afternoon and stayed at a hotel in Dubios, WY, to get some sleep before entering the park the next morning.

Once we got into the park, we had planned on camping, but it actually snowed that weekend so we stayed in the Old Faithful Inn. I highly recommend it!!! We only got a room there because of a cancellation... they normally book up way in advance.

Old Faithful Inn:

At the hotel restaurant:

Snow on the road to Yellowstone!

On our first day in the park, we saw Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful (of course), and a bunch more of the geysers and thermal features. It was pretty cold, but we did a little hiking and then checked into our hotel. I think we saw Old Faithful erupt like six times while we were there because of where we stayed. It was awesome!

Old Faithful!Dan and Noah walking through steam from one of the thermal features in the park.The next day, we explored the west side of the park loop drive all the way up to Mammoth Springs. It was cold, but beautiful. Noah liked the mud pots best, I think. We also saw moose and tons of buffalo, of course. Noah completed their Junior Ranger program and got a patch!
Noah, Junior Ranger Our last day in the park was Monday and we mostly just explored the geyser basin near the hotel because we had a long drive back. On the way out, we drove through Teton National Park. I love that place and definitely want to spend some time there in the near future. So glad it's only 7 hours away!

Pictures From Noah's 4th Birthday (Way Late!!!)

Time Flies... and All That

I can't believe it has been over 2 months since I posted anything on here. I guess I should start with a run down of what has happened in that time.

1. Noah turned 4!!! I can't believe I have a 4-year-old child. He is the best and so much fun. I feel so lucky to be his mom. I need to post pictures of the party on here soon.

2. Noah finished up his soccer season and started playing tee-ball. Dan is coaching and he is doing a great job, of course!

3. We went to Yellowstone for Memorial Day weekend. I need to post pictures and a trip report soon as well.

4. School is out! Yee-haw... another year down and all the children are accounted for!

5. My stud of a hubby rode Elephant Rock 100 mile bike ride. Need to post pics of that one as well.

6. Debroah and Joel (our friends from Camp Buckskin) moved here from Australia with their two kids, Maysa and Emerson. We have been having a blast welcoming them to Denver and taking care of their gorgeous dog, Charlie, while they look for a house.

7. We just got back from 6 days in San Diego. Pictures are coming! We did Legoland, La Jolla Shores beach, Coronado, Disneyland (in Anaheim), and Sea World. It was a whirlwind but so much fun. I love staying in hotels!!! :)

8. I started doing acupuncture for my plantar fasciitis and it is working! I am finally able to do some decent running and I am kicking saround the idea of another marathon in October!

9. I am on my 4th class at JIU for my administration certification (and another masters to go along with it). It is business management for learning organizations and I have to admit, it's not really my thing. The teacher and classmates are great though and I am doing pretty well!

That's about all... can you see why the blogging has taken a back seat???