Rants, Recipes, and Running

Is it possible that 2015 is coming to a close? Just as I was getting into the "groove" of the year, it's gone like the blink of an eye! And what a year it was. We had a lot of time to reflect on the year, and look forward to the upcoming year over Christmas -- which I will be blogging about soon. But Ryan and I got an unexpected 27 hour drive twice in 1 week! ;) Lots of time to reflect, talk, and plan. May I also add that the fact that I still couldn't wait to get home from work to share my evening with him today, tells me that I married the right dude :) Alright, here are my 2015 highlights!  We got a puppy who stole our hearts: Miles. This little ball of fur taught me to put others' needs before my own. And brought us so much joy (and some messes).  In February, we did another Ragnar (my 4th): Ragnar del Sol in Phoenix. We did this with a group of close friends, and it was an absolute blast! 30 hours filled with adventure, challenging ...

We only have about 6 months left in Tucson, so I am really trying to "soak it up" before we say goodbye. With that, I decided to participate in one of the biggest events in Tucson this year: The "El Tour" On November 22, I did the El Tour de Tucson with my friend Amanda. We were actually sponsored by her uncle's bike shipping coming - ShipBike  . We got our full race entry paid for AND jerseys! And I will say -- it is a really cool company. For cyclists/triathletes who travel around the country, they have a specially engineered box that will ship the bike to your race destination. Since we were "Team Shipbike", our motto during the race went along with the company. " Let's get our goods from start to finish undamaged and in 1 piece " ;). This is one of the biggest cycling races in the country -- as Tucson has amazing climate, and it's one of the biggest cycling destinations in the US. The race was beautiful - mountain views the ...

Right now I am in the midst of training for 2 races. And it's been pretty darn fun! Race 1: El Tour de Tucson I'm doing a 75 mile bike race on November 21. This is definitely the furthest I've ever rode my bike! This is a yearly tradition in Tucson, and it's quite the event. People fly in from all over the world to compete, as Tucson is on the top 10 for best cycling cities in the country! We get some very elite cyclists. In the past, we have gotten together with friends and spectated with our coffees and cheer. But this year, I've decided to partake in the events! The option is to do a 40, 55, 75, or 105. My butt cannot handle 105 miles on a bike. Everyone tells me I have the physical ability to do so, and I'm sure I do. But I seriously have no desire to spend that much time on a bike. My friend Amanda and I are going to do it together, and we got her uncle's company to sponsor us. The company is called Ship Bike . It's pretty cool! He engineered...

So if you've followed my blog, you'd learn that I've done the triathlon's kind of backwards. I started with a sprint tri. I then progressed to an Half Iron Man. And last weekend I did an Olympic Tri.   Usually people don't "dive" into the HIM until they feel "semi" experienced with triathlons! But I crave crazy.   Now after completing these 3 distances, I must say the Olympic Distance is amazing! It is long enough to feed my crazy. But it's short enough that I can push myself and not feel like dying afterwards!   I can drink the free "post race Michelob Ultra" ;)   Because I'm not vomiting.   (After my HIM, I was hunched over vomiting post race. For a long time.)   I have to say this race was one of the most fun races I've ever done! Just such a good weekend. I'll let the pictures tell you my story.....       Here is my bed as I packed for the race. There is so much stuff to pack for a tr...

I have been very absent from this blog lately! Where do I even begin... Here's what I've been up to! Training : I have a race on my horizon, at last! I've decided to do the Tempe AZ Lifetime Olympic Triathlon in September. I have 4 other friends that are doing it as well, so it will be a good excuse for a "girls weekend". I'm not following a specific training plan. I still like to try lifting weights at least 2 times/week. I've found from triathlons in the past (for me), it is most important to make running a priority. In a triathlon, you're running when you're the most tired. For those of you not aware, an Olympic tri is a 0.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and a 6.2 mile run! I've been terrible about swimming this time around. I'm so scared of getting an ear infection, and I seem to have a hard time getting my butt in that pool! Dreaming : About our upcoming Hawaii vacation! We have been planning this for about 1 year, so I am so ...

Last Saturday I raced in the Catalina State Park Trail race, which happens to be my favorite race that Tucson holds. It's not a huge race. There are about 300 people total. But it has breath-taking views, great support, and it's quite the challenge! The route is a 10.2 10.5 miles ( according to MY Garmin ) race. There are 2 loops that you complete. Within the loop, there is a 92 stair climb. While running on trail, you're pretty much running on sand the entire time. Which is not easy! You pretty much suck wind the while 10+ miles. The views are just incredible, though! I did this race last year, and happened to place 1st in my age group, so I felt pretty serious about "defending my title". (another perk to a smaller race. Placing!!) I'm not elitist. After I did last year's race, I got motivated to become a better trail runner. So I really started incorporating it into my workout plans. And I definitely beat my time, but didn't do as well ...

My 3rd Ragnar is in the books! The thought of these 24 hour races is rather daunting. But the more you do, it becomes addicting. This was my 1st "trail" Ragnar. For a refresher: Ragnar is a company that sponsors 24+ hour relay races. It's a company that makes tons of money. Because it attracts insane people from all over the country to pay hundreds of dollars to run with their friends for 24 hours on zero sleep. All for a medal, tshirt, and car decal. But great memories are always included! I've done the Ragnar del Sol (Wickenburg to Phoenix), Napa (San Francisco to Calistoga), and now McDowell Mountain trail. I must say this trail Ragnar was my favorite. Here is my recap: Trail Ragnar is made up of a team of 8 instead of 12 runners (like on the road). It is also 120-160 miles instead of 200. Instead of going from Point A to Point B, you stay in one area and run 3 different trail loops . This race had 3 loops: 3.1 miler, 8 miler, and 4 miler . Every r...