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.

La Niña: The cold that kept on giving

Hell & Back!

I've had a cold for over a week now , it's not stopping me though.

I've taken 2 days off training, and 7 days on radstuff.

1. Return from awesome trip to California

2. Wonderful family

3. Friend love

4. Snow

Tussin and Tubbin

5. Gravy

6. Watching my pregnant sister swim next to me in the pool

7. Running at the beach

8. Coastal storming

9. Watching the circus perform at the symphony!

B-Boy Battle!

Cirque de la Symphonie!

10. A b-boy battle

11. Bagby hot springs

12. Two pumpkin pies in the fridge

13. Having my grandpa home at the cabin

14. Henna-ing with Robin

15. Picking up my accordion again

16. Holidays is on!

17. Build phase starting next Monday, real training begins!


Now I'm home sitting by the fire catching up, drinking tea, loving this recovery week and getting my feet back on the ground.

Beach Running!

Thank me later...

Crab Cooker

 We had an outstanding day off. 
It went like this:
Finish work, eat a burger, give co-instructor a lesson in cards over hot toddys in the gold miner cabin, learn some magic tricks, head to bed, sleep in, go drink coffee and watch the sun peek over the morning peaks at Lake Sabrina as the days first fishermen head out, bask on a granite slab and let the warmth crawl up me. 
Hit the road and begin mission: Hot Springs Blow Out.  We headed toward Mammoth.  First stop: Wild Willy’s Hot Springs, a natural pond on a tiny stream with a tiny waterfall in the middle of the valley, surrounded by huge peaks, we had it all to ourselves, it was spectacular.... next:  Hilltop, a concrete tub with incredible views, it was nice and hot and so was the Anthony Kiedis Looking Meatball who joined us, we had a tremendous conversation where he exclaimed in an accent somewhere between a real accent and a speech impediment “You read too!” clearly we had a lot in common, it was a day of interesting characters. 
 Next stop: Crab Cooker, the map we were using said we should watch for “crazed perverts” and we hoped we’d hit bingo with the camper truck parked at the springs.  We asked our crazed pervert candidate if crab cooker was close, “yup” said the man of few words, it had just been drained, and would take at least 3 hours to refill and cool according to a couple beet red hot springs enthusiasts who then began to bicker about whether is was 140 or 160 degrees out of the ground, we headed back to the pervert.  “Is there another over there?” we asked
 “yup”
“can we walk to it?”
“you could” we began to walk. 
 We heard the music before we rounded the bend, one dude, 2 girls, a 30 pack of natty light, and we had arrived at Shepard Springs.  It’s a deep box, close quarters, they were in suits, we were not.  They were trashed, we were not.  The water was luke warm, the series of events that led to my exit was this:
I looked over and saw the dude had gotten out and was peeing all over his feet and the side of his truck as one gal began explaining how her man was going to pay for her to get her vagina lasered, we were told to try Saline Valley where we’d “really fit in, there’s lots of nudists and stuff, you can remember it because it’s Saline, like the Saline Witch Trials” They were great characters but not great enough to keep me shivering in a box of luke warm water talking about Laser's vagina.
 We walked back to Crab cooker where we cooled it with a stand up paddle, it was still burning hot so we headed back to Hilltop which was filled with 12 17 year olds and beer, no one us to sit on their laps, the sun was setting and we decided to try Crab Cooker again. 
 Best decision ever.
The burns we have today were completely worth watching the light pink and fade over the mountains while basking in clean hot water in the silence of the desert laying out to cool under the stars in the evening breeze, and back into the earth pit. It was magic.
A lot of singing in the car, a mexican food stop, and a victory at cards later I was tucked happy back in my little cabin.
 Training is good, just doing short runs and drills, still working my lungs up here.  I just got the next 3 weeks workouts, I’m excited to get home to my bike and the pool Monday, but for now, it’s not too shabby here.

Sierra SNOW!

Here’s a day in my life these days.

These are ACTUAL pictures from today's run!

 Wake up in a little goldminers cabin 9,000 feet up near Bishop Pass in California, look at the aspens outside my window to see how much it snowed last night, get up, stretch, walk to the store for breakfast with the crazy pink crawling across the jaggedy granite peaks around me.  Drink a bunch of coffee.  Go to work and put a ton of wood in the fireplace.  Teach all day in the snow. Go for a run at lunch, marvel at how hard my lungs are working, marvel when I get a little higher and can see super toothy peaks on one side,

Whites Behind

and the white mountains across the valley, smile because this is hands down one of the most gorgeous places in the country.  Then I run back to class.  Teach through the afternoon, more wood, more snow.  It’s dark when work ends.  Walk back to cabin, engage domestic routine with co-instructor.  It goes: I get a little yoga ass kicking from Shiva Rea audio yoga, take a bath and sing while Tate uses my computer, we walk to dinner and try not to get asked too many gross medical questions by our sweet students.  Walk home in total darkness and try not to fall in ice puddles while
looking at the stars.  Watch a movie, read, go to bed. Repeat. Not too shabby.

Sierras Ahead

 It’s a recovery week, so it’s just yoga, running, resting, Bad Santa and Super Troopers. Saturday is a day off, and there may be some skiing, hiking, sledding and definitely hot springing.

 It’s a perfect winter spot, the trick is staying warm, watching the light on the granite and ice and staying present.  I’ll be ready to be home for a bit come the 22.

How to love it:

1. Watch This: 

2.  Download Steinski: What Does It All Mean and put it on your listening device
3. Make sure all the leaves are gigantic, gold, and cover the ground with them
4. Put like 3 rainbows in the sky
5. Sprinkle a little rain in it
6. Go for a run

Award Tour

The Daredevil and the Bruise at work

This rad week included snow, more sock rocking fall colors, a trip to central Oregon where the sun shines every day, the dogs are dirty, the wind is sweet, and it's quieter than a rock, a course in Portland, Robin's new house, reveling in the radness of my Portland friendships,  more training of course, and Halloween! I guess I'm the only one who thinks it would be funny to give out 5 hour energy for trick-or-treats.

It's Magic.

Here's what I'm loving: Spying on water aerobics classes while I swim.  It's like having access to a secret leprochauns in space party.  Above water it's polite smiling elderly folk.  Under water it's crazy leg jigs, bouncing, prancing, and doing insane mid-air freezes. 

Home again home again

Swimming in Bremerton was neat, they have one of those pools that is dark blue.  It's in a brick building with no windows, so imagine the acoustics. There was no one but me in the pool and a teen girl lifeguard who was jamming out some soulful a capella Rhianna.  So it was like: stroke, stroke, stroke, "ella ella ay ay ay" stroke, stroke, stroke, " I told you I'd be here fo-evvah" stroke, stroke, stroke... pretty rad swim all in all.

 Now I'm back home, there's snow on the hills and my view is jaw dropping leaf-a-rama. I'm kicking off 2 weeks of swim form work.  that means swimming most days with a bike or run after.  Today I met the coach at the pool for drills and for her to check if I knew how to swim yet.  The best part of the day though was the run after.  I went up Post Canyon and it was an arc of butter yellow and rain falling as I wove along little dirt paths in a very peaceful fall world.
 Amazed along the way to recall that: Mountain bikers around here are cray-cray.  Again, Hood River is an otro nivel of hard core. 

Road Maps

 It sure was great to be home for a second.  I disappeared into this super intensive work flurry, jammed out my first newsletter for No Shame In My Game, and as I was sitting up late at night trying to meet my own deadline, listening to De La Soul, and coloring in my pirate map of change with lots of colored pencils, it occurred to me:

This is exactly what I want to be ding right now.

  The jobs I've fallen in love with have all given me broad creative license,  I can invent games, processes, traditions, and things it's an off the cuff fiesta.  With the Newsletter No Shame In My Game rose to the challenge and delivered, as an awesome job.

RIP?

  It's been a treat to swim in Hood River Pool again, I was a little saddened and grossed out by the dead guy in Bend and like my home turf pool sans dead guy.  I am actually really liking swimming lately.  This morning at the Mt. Scott Pool in Portland, I felt awesome! I dropped 15 seconds off my time, I was really happy, then suspicious.... turns out the false breakthrough was what happens when you swim in a 25 yard pool, rather than a 25 meter one.
 But I took it as a win, because it felt awesome while it lasted
In other news: My truck quit, which is a bummer and we'll see what happens with that.  If anyone has an awesome car that is reliable and super cheap and they just have to get rid of, I'm your gal! All in all, despite the stress it was a pretty good breakdown:
1. Stopped at a light
2. In Hood River

3. On a construction sight
4. 7 eager to help construction workers
5. I work for an awesome company who helped
6. I have an awesome sister who was on-call google gal
7. I have good friends


So now I'm in Bremerton via rental car gazing out at Oyster Bay, toasty and warm after a rainy bike ride where I tried to calculate how long it would take for the forest to grow over all roads and towns if we weren't here.  Probably 2 years.

Get busy living!

I'm back at home again! It was 2 days ago and I got to the pool after work for my swim and as I walked onto the deck there was some kerfuffle going on.  I looked around and saw a terrified teen lifeguard pulling a middle aged man out of the pool, another lifeguard went to call 911 and the poor boy began checking the man.  I thought to myself how strange/fortuitous it is how often I find myself in the place I need to be to help people with medical emergencies.

 So I walk over to the lifeguard and let him know I can help if he'd like, he looks up at me with these sweet scared eyes and we begin, "Is there an AED here?" "Yeah, it's coming" "Is he breathing?" "No" Did your breaths go in?" "Yeah" "Does he have a pulse?""Dunno" so I check and the man is pulseless so we do some CPR.  The AED comes and so does an ER doc in a speedo, we dry the guy off, put on the pads, and it's "No Shock advised" the Doc asks if he can take over, and he does, I stuck around for a few cycles and decided I had done my part.  I think if anything I helped the teen feel effective, I went to ride my bike, but there was a class in the bike room and it was getting dark, so I went back to try the pool, the man had been transported and so I swam, it was good, it is good to feel alive and so lucky.  I got on a bike after and drove home in the beautiful crisp edged fall to an amazing sushi and sake dinner and a warm bed. 

 The next day we wrapped up the course and I went to Dad's for his awesome company and I finally watched Shawshank Redemption for the first time, the whole couple days made me feel glad I'm getting busy living.  I topped it off with a beautiful ride outside Sunriver and headed home yesterday.

So in the name of get busy living and when Andy Dufresne says "That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you..." in Shawshank I present my current training hits mix, that all the dead men in the pool and gross sad shit inspires me to rock my glitter jock strap a little harder.
1. The Girl is Mine: Michael Jackson
2. Senorita: Justin Timberlake
3. Good Lord: Brother Ali
4. Orishas Llego: Orishas
5. Sleepyhead: Passion Pit
6. Jump in the Line: Harry Belafonte
7. Free Fallin': Tom Petty
8. Beautiful Day: Mary J. Blige
9 Young Forever: Jay-Z
10. Keep it Moving: Tribe Called Quest
11. OPP: Naughty by Nature
12: Close to Me: The Cure
13. Anything Can Happen: Wyclef
14. 30 Something: Jay-Z
15. Izzy Izzy Ahh: Missy Elliott

Get busy living!

Silent Destroyer

Hot Tubs, Mountains, Country Roads, Guns, and Pizza! I woke up after a hot tub evening in Sun River at Dad's, Dad made breakfast, took a great 2 hour ride up Cascade Lakes Highway and back down under perfect blue skies and the watchful Mt. Bachelor. And then went shooting! Kristen's boyfriend who I weirdly also went to college with for a sec is a rep for Glok Guns.  Yeah, Glok. (see Wu-tang, Tupac, Cypress Hill, and most police forces for more info). So he took Dad, Kristen and I shooting with his demo car full of like 40 hand guns.  While I can't exactly get behind hand guns politically or conceptually, I gotta say I love to shoot, and these were the nicest guns, so we went out, set up targets and made sure those clays and boxes would not be walking home on their own.  For the grand finale I shot a silenced rifle called a silent destroyer.  Creepy and fun and very emotionally confusing. We headed home through glorious sunset and rainbows to pizza and beer and stretching and early to bed.

Good life on the road

I took it on the road and am teaching in Bend this week.  I think I got my bike seat, oops I mean saddle issue sorted out after a sperm count decimating ride before leaving home to drive here.  Or whatever the lady equivalent of that would be. So it's big days, teaching days and some nights, and training at lunch or after class, but Bend is perfect or this.  Dry long desert sage rides, an awesome heated outdoor pool at the rec center, and desert trail runs.  I started multi-sport days now, I'm in a bike intensive phase and doing swim/bikes which is fun and feeling good to be able to train at something I know how to do like ride a bike.
 The class is awesome, arctic explorers, adventuring 20 somethingers, chefs, artists, at risk youth program folks, a french, a swiss, lots of dry sun and a big barn to teach in with a fireplace to sit next to at night.
 Excited for my day off Sunday which will be a swim in sunriver a bike down bachelor through alpine lakes galore, potential caving with the Daddio and hot tubbing in Dad's new house.  The good life!

Rock with you

It was just what I wanted to be doing in the darkness of 6:30 am, gliding down 35 towards Hood River watching the colors change in the predawn on Mt Adams, hot coffee in hand, and a little MJ "Rock with Me" tying it all together.  I had a beautiful "this is the life I want to be living" moment.
 I met Coach Cassie and her boyfriend super cyclist at Cassie's house and we hopped on bikes and rode out Mosier Tunnels, a beautiful paved car free section of the old Gorge Highway, my chain is all whack so I can't use my easiest cog, so I got a little added challenge, but the ride was so nice.  The leaves are changing and the river was a perfect mirror.  We rode for about an hour, returned to town, and I hit the pool.
 Yesterday was the first day swimming seemed fun, and today it was actually relaxing.  Pretty wild to go from winded flailing to relaxing in a week, maybe I've just relaxed into my flailing.  The workout that took me an hour takes me 40 minutes now and my "golf score" (#seconds + #strokes to do 50m) though I'm sure not awesome when compared to others has gone from 136 to 133 to 130 to 129, so my spirits are buoyed (haha.)
 Now is hunker down time, clean house, finish Niki's weaving, fix my chain, do some work, and get ready for a bakeathon (baguette! challah! croissants!) with Belle and Andy and a weekend in Portland, all with a little MJ to keep it rockin.

Changes

Things are changing around here.  I've been swimming a bunch this week packing it in through Saturday when Bike anatomical adaptation starts. My whole body is sore, I am always hungry and my sleep is weird.  I've been swimming about 50 minutes a day, which doesn't seem like it's too crazy until I realize my body has never done those movements before.  I've also been doing some strength exercises to get my lower abs to hold my body more level in the water and to get my right hip to stop dropping when I run.  I found my gluteus medius, who knew such a thing existed, poor little guy is coming out of hibernation and turning into a hip lifting powerhouse.  I feel like I'm walking around with panniers of sore.  I made a big pot of beef stew with bowtie noodles in it and it's making my world go round!

Last night at the pool the masters were there, I swam in a lane next to them and did my own workout, I feel like a freshmen getting googly eyes at the seniors, they are so smooth and fast and awesome, I am excited to one day join their ranks.

Can't help it...

Why do I like this the way I do?



I need more training music, I'll trade a mix for a mix!

0.68350831 Mile Swim

I went to Coach for a running analysis, this week I'm doing sport specific analysis before anatomical adaptation phase begins next week, don't I sound cool? SO I learned that although I think ALOT about form when I run, in a slow mo camera I look like a limping zombie, got some zombie drills, then it was off to the pool where I swam my first pool workout. Coach was writing it up and she writes "Warm up" then the rest, so I ask what I should do for the warm up, and she's like "this is the warm up." WHOOPS!
So I zipped off to the pool and swam 1100 meters with lots of drills. I'm really excited for this to get easier and I know it will because little by little it already is, so I do this workout 5 days a week until October 14. I feel like someone is going to bust me in my lane or the locker room pointing and yelling: "She's not a swimmer!" So far my rainbow lightning bolt swim suit and winter bush are the perfect disguise and have them totally fooled! Ha!

Sink or Swim

4:30pm OK, leaving now. First swim with coach. Never worn a swim cap, just tried it on, makes me look AWESOMELY INTENSE! I'm glad I have hair. I'm really nervous.

10pm Didn't drown, if I hadn't felt like this whole training thing had started, I do now. Swimming laps is like holding a crunch for 45 minutes and not breathing at the same time, I can't wait until I'm all like "HA! It was soooo funny how I used to swim and it was all hard and stuff, ha!" The good news is my coach is still rad, we swam and did drills and she said not to worry because if all else fails which it wont I can get by on sheer strength... yes, SHEER STRENTGTH!!!!

So we swam and it was really helpful then I met Amy and Tom at Double Mountain for a beer and they are so radical and I am happy as a clam that I am learning to swim, have sweet friends, and the whole second half of Mockingjay (I'm not saying do, but I'm not saying don't) to finish upstairs before bed.

Top 10

Top 10 Highlights of the last couple days:
1. Captain Alissa visited
2. Doni the goat visited
3. I got wrapped in the hospital bed by the ghost lady after a soak in the clawfoots at Carson Hot Springs
4. I did the first not sunny run of fall and it was crisp and nice
5. We ate a huge heavy warm container of Thai food from the cart in Hood River
6. Yoga at Town Hall is awesome
7. Weaving on the loom by the window for Niki's furniture show is peaceful.
8. Renting the wood splitter and getting busy with Mom and Zoe and Boo up here in the sunshine today is fun and there is a HUGER pile of wood now!
9. Not getting a ticket for driving "popeye" when I was pulled over by a total pretend looking cop.
10. Running to Pizza, Pints, and "Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge" at the Sawtooth tonight.

Who wants to do a Marathon?

Big things are happening! I got my training plan from The Coach! It's go time! I have a long line of papers taped together on the back door laying out now through June in 2-3 week intervals, pretty exciting, but NOT AS EXCITING AS.....

The Eugene Marathon on May 1st fits into the training plan!

Have you ever wanted to do a marathon? Run it! Walk it! Twist it! Bop it!

Here is your big opportunity! Put a "s" in winter fat getting get fast! Don't you want to say you did?

There is MORE than enough time for ANYONE to train for this and how fun would that be?

Big fun is how fun. Do it! Come on!

Register now! It's the first step!

Ori's gonna do it with me!

Meat Ballz

A Funado hit Portland this weekend, local weather stations announced it had been brewing for weeks, with multiple touch downs, the casualties are yet unknown. Witness report seeing dancing with 22 year olds , a play, the TBA festival starring the incredibly talented and beautiful Sarah Johnson, rad dancing, taiko drumming, and visits with the best friends money can buy.

Getting smarter: thought of the week:
It's all (like really ALL) about finding the common denominator.

I got off my tail and went for a run today, the beavers have been damming, a road crew stopped traffic for me, the wind was a million miles and hour with mist and sun. The first part of the run I was totally freaked out, like this "Oh shit, am I going to be cold? You think this is cold pansy? You're going to have to run in the snow and bike all winter! Oh shit, my foot hurts. You think this is pain pansy? You're going to do this times four after a swim and bike! Oh shit I'm tired of this song. You think you're tired of it now?.... blah blah blah I've gone and intimidated myself, the second part of the run was dominated by Naughty by Nature (try googling "naughty nature" and it's all photos of acorns that look like boobs and peach butts, and tree weiners!).

Luckily I'm home now and Trader Joe's sells meatballs, pandora's got the dub, work is getting done, my denim pantsuit is clean from the weekend, my bike is almost fixed, swimming starts next week, and it's pottery night at town hall.

The picture is from a very funny blog if you like to laugh.

The Coach

I met my coach last night. She's rad. She has completed a handful of Ironmen, works as a physical therapist, is Canadian, drinks beer, trains hard, is funny, to sum it up bad ass.
Here's a picture of her.
Just Kidding....
But she is rad.
So she's drawing up a plan for me. Swimming is my biggest hurdle and lucky for my slacking the pool's closed until the 25th. It got real real last night. After a totally hermit day of listening to a lot of Justin Timberlake and learning the first half of Thriller on You-Tube, and finding bear poo in the field, we're talking about 8 hour bike rides in the winter, something she calls a "triple threat" that's a 6 mile run into a 40 mile bike, with 3 repeats... I'd better finish thriller before we get this show on the road.
She's full of confidence for me, so that's nice. I'm excited to have a training pal, meet more folks around here, and do it.
It's been a little adjusting moving up here (this is just the trailer).
Easy to get distracted and have structureless days. It's been a great practice in contentment. Letting it be what it is from Yoga at town hall, to popcorn to dinner, runs along the crick, tv on the computer, wandering from one interesting thing to the next like a little animal.

Go Time!

I'm 30 now, today is the 10 year anniversary of the death of an awesome dude Jules Roques and here I am sucking the marrow out of life, and I'm gonna do something a little wild. I said I'd do a triathlon this year so of course in typical Renee style I've signed up for the biggest and am diving in, because heck, why not?. I'm doing Ironman Coeur D'Alene in Idaho next summer, I have 9 months to prepare, so I guess I should learn to swim.
So this is the year of balance living at the cabin at Mt Hood, my life coaching business, my awesome job teaching and training my tail off.

The incredible Anna Gast planted this seed of a blog in my brain and I think it will be a big year to share.