Spring has sprung

Oh, what a glorious day!  Finally, we have warmth & sunshine.  I am very grateful for these two things after such a cold winter!  It was nice to take the dog for a walk this morning and actually see neighbors outside!
I have not blogged in such a long time but the beautiful weather today made me think about how thankful and grateful I am for everything I have - my health, my wonderful husband, my children who I love so much & miss so much, my home, etc.  My husband did a retreat at our church this past weekend and I attended adoration Saturday night & Sunday morning.  I had such a good experience doing this as well as going to the mass yesterday afternoon, that I just had to pass on my joy & gratitude.  God is good ... and Life is good!

Colorado has been wonderful ...

I have had a wonderful week and a half in beautiful Colorado!  But I must come home to reality at some time and that time is tomorrow morning, when I leave for the 2 day drive back.
I have packed so much into the last week, from running up in Leadville, Co at 10,200 feet altitude to running the last 6.2 miles of the Boulder marathon with my daughter, Caitlin (and my husband, Mark), as Caitlin finished her first marathon on a very tough course in 3:59:29!  I am so proud of her.  Mark flew out here to surprise her and he ran the entire marathon with her.  I jumped in at mile 20 and her boyfriend Julian jumped in for the last 2 miles (Julian ran the 1st 4 with her, then ran 13 with a friend of his and the last 2 with Caitlin - he ended up running 23 miles in total!).  

Caitlin & Mark after finishing the Boulder marathon!

Start & finish of Boulder marathon

Place I stopped on way back from Leadville

I must say that I can understand the draw that Colorado had on both of my children, and why they felt the need to move out here.  It is such a beautiful place and the sun seems to shine almost all the time.  This morning, it was only 37 degrees out but with the strong sunshine, it soon felt like 70.  

I'm spending my last night here at my daughter's apartment, carving pumpkins and drinking some red wine.  

Life is an amazing gift and I am so grateful that I was able to spend so much time with my family in this beautiful place!  Thank you to my wonderful husband, Mark - my two wonderful children, Kyle & Caitlin - and to God for providing such a beautiful place and giving me the health to enjoy it.  

I love hiking!!!

I've been in Colorado for a week now and I'm really loving it, although I'm missing my husband (he arrives tonight :) ).  On Monday, I drove up to Leadville, which took me about 2.5 hours but was so beautiful along the way.  But yesterday was such a good day - I hiked up to Royal Arch by myself after spending some time at the Denver REI store and having lunch with my daughter, Caitlin.  Because I was on the trail at about 1PM on a Thursday afternoon, there were very few people.  I've hiked in Boulder before, but usually on a Saturday, which has been packed.  Being out there alone was so peaceful and relaxing.  I took almost 70 pictures in a 2 hour period, but it still did not capture the beauty.  My legs are a bit sore today due to all the climbing, but it's a good sore.  I really felt so healthy up there yesterday - it's so good to feel that, as I come up to my 4 year survival anniversary.  Life is SO good!

Royal Arch - view from bottom

View from arch

Colorado adventure...

Tomorrow, my Colorado adventure begins.  I'm leaving at 7AM for my solo drive from Ohio to Colorado.  The purpose of the trip is to watch my daughter run the Boulder marathon (her first marathon), spend some quality time with my son & daughter in Denver, check out part of the transrockies run course, do some hiking (if the weather is nice), and look at some possible retirement homes in the area (or at least narrow down a city/area where we'd like to be).  But most of all, it's a 2 week vacation - some time to enjoy just having the time to enjoy.
For the last 30 years, except for some time off when my children were born, I have worked full time in the Corporate accounting world.  It was never a good time to take vacation, so my time off revolved around the Corporate calendar, which was not very forgiving.  But as of July 20th, I am no longer working.  I decided that life was just too short to be spending 50-60 hours per week sitting behind a desk.  So I took an early retirement at the age of 52 to start enjoying life.  My ever supporting husband was behind my decision and says he likes it that I'm home now (I think he's serious :) ).  We would like to relocate to Colorado, but more and more, that is in the more distant future.  I'm having so much fun being home with the dog, running a lot, and signing up for a lot of races for next year.  A year of getting some things done that were on my bucket list.  Then we'll see...
Tomorrow morning, my two week adventure starts.  I'm excited...  

Beautiful fall day for a half marathon!

Today was the Akron marathon & half marathon and I competed in the half.  What a beautiful fall day! Marathoners, and runners in general, like the cool fall weather.  And today was perfect running weather - in the upper 40's with very little wind and lots of sunshine.  The Akron marathon is a very nicely run race - very organized with a great course, great volunteers, and a wonderful experience at the finish.  I was able to run my best Akron half time today with a time of 1:49:45 (my goal was to go under 1:50).
So I now have about 2 weeks to rest & do whatever workouts I want until the marathon training starts - which means the training doesn't end until next August when I do the trans rockies run.  Today I signed up for a couple races, one of them being the Boston marathon in April.  I start the year with the Lost Dutchman marathon in Arizona, follow that with Boston in April, possibly do the 3 day triple t triathlon in May, the Muncie half ironman in July and then the 3 day TransRockies Run in August of 2013.  All of the races next year will be to prepare me for the Trans Rockies run, which will be the most grueling, tiring race I've ever done, but hopefully the most fulfilling.  And I'll be doing it with my daughter, which is an extra added bonus.  It's a good thing I'm retired! :)
As a note - I had a visit with my oncologist on Tuesday.  His comment to me made my day - he said that my news of retiring and racing/working out made his month.  He is very happy with my health and said that I don't need to do anything differently, as what I am doing seems to be working.  More good reason to keep working out so diligently going forward.  It's good to feel good!

It's been a very long time since I've posted ... and a lot has happened in the last 9 months or so.  My health is good, which I am very thankful for.  And I decided to retire back in March, although I gave almost 5 months notice and didn't actually leave my job until the end of July.  But I am now officially "retired" and have been relaxing, working out, spending time with my husband, and training/running with our new dog, Gunnar, over the past month.  I've also done a number of races and have been doing well, which shows that you can get faster over fifty!!
Last night, my daughter (who lives in Denver) and I decided to sign up for the biggest race of my life.  This race has been on my "bucket list" ever since I heard about it.  It takes place in the Rocky mountains and you can either sign up for the 3 day race or the 6 day.  We decided to go for the 3 day race, which entails 58 miles of running over the 3 day period, in the mountains at elevation.  It's called the TransRockies-Run, and they provide the tents, food, maps, etc for the 3 day adventure.  It will be a huge challenge, but one that I am really excited about and have decided to continue my blog to talk about.  So here we go!  I have one year to prepare for this epic race.
I'm heading out to Colorado in October to cheer my daughter, Caitlin, as she does her first marathon in Boulder.  I plan on staying there a week or so and if possible, check out part of the race course to get an idea of what I'm up against.  Caitlin is an avid athlete, having done a couple half ironmen, a 100 mile bike race in the rocky mountains, and several other running races & tris.  But she's never done a full marathon, so this will be a fun trip to cheer her on.
I have to thank God for giving me the health to be able to do something like this and my husband for ever supporting me and urging me on to pursue my dreams.  Thank you!
So here we go ... a year full of promise and adventure!!!    

Races for 2012 - time to GET IN SHAPE!!

My husband told me on Wednesday that I get emotional when it comes to signing up for races.  That I get caught up in the moment and want to do it all.  That could very well be true - but I love having that carrot dangling out there- that motivation to stay in shape and strive to do better.  So I now have a few races on my calendar for 2012.  The St. Croix half ironman in May, Muncie half ironman in early July, and the Akron half marathon in September are the big ones.  But I also got carried away and signed up for the Miami University triathlon in April and the Vermilion triathlon in August.  And I'm also planning on doing smaller races along the way.  Luckily, I'm back running again after an IT band injury after running the Chicago marathon.  But time to get cracking and whip myself into shape!!

Happy New Year - 2012!!

Another year come & gone - the time sure does fly!  Since my last post, a lot has happened.  I ran in the Chicago marathon with a time of 3:58, qualifying for Boston (if I can get a slot for 2012 - it fills up so fast now).  After the marathon, my friend Judy and I thought we felt so good, we would try to do another marathon in November.  So we started training for the Veteran's Day marathon in Indiana.  But 3 weeks into the training, I got injured with an "overuse" injury - iliotibial band syndrome.  It was so painful in my knee and hip, that I could barely walk, let alone run.  I ended up going to Indiana with Judy so that she could run, and I biked the course.  Lucky for me, biking and swimming did not hurt, so I was able to keep exercising.  But as 2012 starts, I am grateful to say that I can run again.  It's amazing to me how a run outdoors just makes me feel so much better.  My mood is better, I feel more alive, and life is good!
My daughter Caitlin, who has been living with us since August, has now moved to Denver.  It is so quiet around here without her.  Mark and I are enjoying the quiet and I'm thankful to say that he has started running again too (he's been recovering from a torn achilles since February!).
So as January 2012 is now here, it's time to start training for the St. Croix half ironman, which is on May 6th!  It will be a hot one, so it will be difficult training for it during the cold Ohio winter.  Caitlin is doing it too, and it will be a chance for us to see her again.  I was very hesitant about signing up for this race, but Caitlin said that life is too short to always do the things that we're most comfortable with - we need to step outside the comfort zone and stretch our limits.  So ... St. Croix, here we come.  And we are so happy to say that our friends, Mike and Marjan, will be meeting us there for a little vacation too.  Mike and Mark will compete in the St. Croix sprint triathlon.  It will be so much fun!  I'll keep everyone posted on the training progress.
Happy New Year!!

Rev3 Cedar Point Half:

On 9/11/11, my beautiful daughter Caitlin did her 1st half distance triathlon at Rev 3 cedar point.  Wow!  What an awesome experience to race with her and see her out on the course!  She's been training hard and it paid off, as she completed her 1st BIG race in 6:04!  What an accomplishment for her!  I'm so proud!!  She's a bit tired and sore, but looking for more races to do in the future.  I think she's caught the bug!!
What a great race this was!  Very well organized,  a great bike course and an awesome finish.  The run was a bit loopy, but the support out there was awesome.  I will definitely do this one again.   

1st triathlon for 2011 completed!

Mark and I just got home from a whirlwind trip down to Miami University to do the year's first triathlon!  In less than 24 hours, we drove for about 4.5 hours down and 4.5 hours back, completed a sprint triathlon, and had fun despite the rainy weather.  Mark, unfortunately, is still recuperating from his achilles surgery in February, so he had to watch this year, which was tough, as last year he came in 4th overall (out of about 650 participants).  But he came down anyway to cheer me on and it was great having him there with me.  I had a good race, but not as good as last years.  Last year, I was training for the ironman, so was in pretty good shape.  This year, although I'm keeping a base going, I haven't really been doing any serious training.  My time was about 4 minutes slower than last year, and it was pretty evenly split - 1 minute slower on the swim, 2 minutes slower on the bike, and the rest due to slower transitions.  My run was pretty much the same.  So, I guess I've learned that I can't slack off on the swim and bike and expect to race the same.  I've only swam in the pool twice since September!  Now, that's taking a break.  And I haven't ridden outside since the PVG ride in October.  Anyway - time to get serious if I'm going to do well at September's half ironman.
The swim part of the Miami triathlon is my favorite swim out of most triathlons (except Mirror Lake at Lake Placid!).  They changed the bike course this year, and it was a nicer, more scenic course and not as hilly as previous years - more of a rolling course, but no big climbs.  The run was the same, except for a slight variation at the beginning due to all the rain/mud.  Yes, it started raining during the bike this year and continued thru the end of the race.  But it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I had been worrying all week about racing in the cold/wind/rain.  And even though it was chilly (about 52), wet, and windy at times, all in all, the weather was pretty good for racing.
It felt good to be racing outside again.  It's a sign that spring is finally here.  Now, we just have to get Mark healed so he can be out there running, biking and swimming with me.