And...We went to see THE Rockettes!
And... They have two midgets named Skittle and Jingle!
And... I ran 12 miles in the snow and saw herons, swans, ducks, deer, puddles, and snow!
And... the skiing has been so fun with snowy mountain range views this morning from the ridge top with Zoe!
And... I swam another >1 mile today in a cold salt water pool!
And... I got amazing new running shoes for Christmas
And... It's turkey and gravy for dinner
And... gravy!

Idaho!

It’s family holiday time. 
 I rolled into Idaho all keyed up about LARPing, which awesomely is the thing to do at birthday parties for your little sister in Idaho (It’s those people dressed as fantasy characters hitting each other with foam battle axes outside colleges) The LARPing sadly never got off the ground, I got a taste of the fantasy action when we built a gingerbread Harry Potter world out of candy, but despite my enthusiasm about beating on kids with rolled up newsprint and dressing up, the LARPing would have to wait for warmer day with more weapons. 
 The Birthday was fun though.  I was having flashbacks of my brief time at Moscow High School as I stood outside the car in my wonder woman costume blasting “I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen” watching the kids not quite know what to make of me as Zoe’s friends burst out of the building with Zoe (head in a pillowcase) we shoved her in the trunk, piled the car full of teenagers, blasted to the park, killed a piñata, headed to the house, ate way too much candy, built a gingerbread world, had a pie fight and watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, crashed hard, went out to eat delicious food, and then marvelled at how totally disgusting it smells when you leave whipped cream in your hair. 
 Days were then punctuated by training at the U, setting up the most beautiful tree, going to “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the Kenworthy with hot cocoa and popcorn, and shooting the shit with the fam. 
 Now I’m in Boise, looking out the window at a bunch of snow, wondering if it will melt in time today for my 1:45 run of if I’ll got nuts like a gerbil on a treadmill at the Y.  It’s been coffee in bed, good food, laying on the carpet, trying on old cowboy boots, lots of snuggling and tonight we ski!

Got a Hou$e!

I threw up for the first time in training, it really wasn't a function of exertion as much as it was a function of eating 6 cheese biscuits then swimming 2,200 meters. I made it to the can, and got back in the water like a badass.  Lesson learned.

I got a house for the race.  Places are booking up already and most make you get a full week.  I'm scrambling for the deposit, so if anyone has $1,700 you'd like to lend out until June, I'm your gal.  There's a jumping dock, deck,  fishing, it's right on the lake, lots of beds, and it's on the bike route! Come on out!!!!

Training is morphing into the part time job I sort of knew but denied it would be.  Lots of time on the trainer, snowy running by the crick, getting chased by doggies, and swims. My ass and back are growing too!

Master Blaster

Base 1 started this week.  This means it's actual training.  Up until now it's been general fitness and form.  Base is a 3 month period of increasing endurance.  By February 20 I'll be up to 20 hours of training a week.  I'm shifting my thinking to this being my part time job this year.
 I am finally all healthy again, there's snow on the ground,  and I got throttled sledding last weekend.  All happy, bruised and sore I met with my coach on Tuesday night for burger/beer.  I got my training plan for the next 4 weeks and it included going to Masters swim here in Hood River a few times a week.  I don't know if I mentioned that prior to starting this training I didn't know how to swim freestyle/breathe to the side. I did know how to get tossed around in moving water and not drown, which is a skill that will be handy in the first part of the swim, but won't get me 2.4 miles. At Masters you swim with the champs, you swim 60 to 90 minutes, you have a coach and you swim multiple strokes.  For example the fly (which I actually had to google haha... It's short for butterfly btw)
 So it's been a nuts journey, and I know I will look back on now and laugh about what a huge deal I made about this. 
So last night, white knuckles on the steering wheel, I drove down to town sweating.  I sat on the pool deck with hard bodied All Americans just trying to breathe.  Turns out the coach is super nice, I finished the workout, liked swimming with other folks, and am going again tonight.  Phew!
The best part was when the coach explained the next set was 75s freestyle and 25s "other stroke sprint," I started laughing because freestyle is the only stroke I got. So I learned back stroke.

 We also talked about doing some races before Ironman.  I have the May 1 Eugene Marathon on the docket.  Cassie said I should do Blue Lake Triathlon in June which has Sprint (S:.5m/B:12m/R:3m) and Olympic (S:1/B:24/R:6.2) Distance races.  I asked which one I ought to do, she said.  Both.
Right.
Woah.
So that's that, chugging along, baking bread right now, on an Etta James binge, watching the snow melt outside, riding the trainer, and getting er done.