Red Wings & Snow

Game #1 against the Avs on Wednesday night was absolutely STELLAR! Another win for the good guys and a great display of how truly well Detroit plays even when not having 2 starting players! Watched the first period at home, then headed down the Lazy Dog with some other Michiganders and watched the rest. Good times :)

So it's definitely winter here in Boulder and I'm LOVIN' it! However, the other athletes in the area are not so much...they're actually all flocking to San Diego over the next couple days because they're going absolutely insane!!! Whatever. I love seasons and I love doing every winter sport there is so I'm totally fine. On that note, I have decided to stay on my same training plan (do what I want, when I want) for the month of January and then get back into it in February. My first race isn't until April 26 and it's a shorter off road race so I should be fine! The thought of doing intervals right now is just depressing :) Well, off to jump on the trainer and hit the pool with Jen Jen before I get my hair cut and beautifully styled for the first time in over a year and a half! Yeah, I'm gross, but I never wear it down and I just wait until it's long enough to donate and then get it all chopped off...Hopefully our good Russian friend Alex Fomenko will give me a killer new do :)

What a MERRY Christmas it was :)

Wow...I think that's just about all I have to say about how Christmas 2007 unfolded! A short but sweet trip by the family to the mountains couldn't have been more perfect. Below are some fun pics taken by the bro, but they can't even begin to express what an amazing time we had!

On our way to Winter Park Resort over Berthoud Pass

Jerry and me on Christmas morning

Mom, Jerry and me...yes, we did wake up to 8 fresh inches of powder!!!

They opened the backcountry terrain for the first time of the year that morning for fresh tracks almost every run :) How about that for a Christmas present?!?! IT WAS AWESOME!

And it pretty much snowed all day...yes, I'm on skis...half day ride, half day ski!

Can you believe this kid graduated in my high school class and I never hung out with him?!?

We got into a little spat...I was kicking his butt, but eventually I lost :(

Me and my little bro...this was the end of the day and he was POOPED!

The drive home down the pass...it snowed the entire way which made for a long drive!

You know Christmas is close when...

Your advent calendar looks like this...

Only 2 more chocolate windows to open!!!

So what else is new...well not all that much. Wednesday, Shep and I rode outside for almost 2 hours then watched 'Reign over me' which was a super great movie! Who would have known Adam Sandler could be such a good 'serious' actor! Thursday I did nothing except eat all day. Yesterday I swam, played on the elliptical, did a little yoga, spun on the trainer then went out with my good friend Jake from Denver and Jen and got hammered off berry cider at BJ's Brewery! Guess I wasn't too bad since I was able to pull off a stellar 2hr run at 7:30 this morning in 18* weather!!!

Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day cleaning and getting errands done before the family arrives from Michigan tomorrow evening! WHOOOAAAA, it's holiday time :)

I couldn't be more surprised!!!

After the dog, the gerbils, the frogs, the hamsters, the fish, and all the other random critters we've had in our house over the past 10 years or so died, my mother was adamant about having NO MORE PETS!!!

Since my brother no longer lives at home and I have been gone for almost 6 years, I still think the 'empty nest' syndrome is heavily felt over there :( Well that, and the fact that my dad always has to be doing or cleaning up after something...On that note, I got a phone call a week ago informing me that he had purchased 2 parakeets! BIRDS?!?!? I've been replaced by a bird?!? Hmmm....

I think my father's true intentions are to teach them to speak and say dirty things...especially to my mom when she's home by herself during the day! HAHAHA. Just kidding. I think it's absolutely hilarious. Take a look at these pooping machines. Apparently I'm supposed to help name them...any thoughts?!?

White Elephant Madness

Last night was the annual 'I look hot in a speedo' holiday party at Pete and Brad's clubhouse. As always, there were lots of fun times, good laughs, great food and delicious jello shots...thanks to Mark Shenk :) We also had a White elephant gift exchange which was a total riot...especially since Billy (dressed as Santa) was directing the show. For those of you who don't know what that is, everyone who comes to the party brings a wrapped item from their home that they want to give away. Everyone who brings a gift must draw a number. When your number is called (it goes chronologically) you can either open a gift from the pile or steal an already opened gift from someone else. I was fortunate to have drawn a higher number which meant I had lots of options for a good steal. Below is the game I ended up coming home with. I know you want to come over and play...and no comments from the peanut gallery :)

The love of the mountains :)

Early Wednesday morning, Jen, Jess and I drove up the icy mountains roads to Copper where we spent most of the day! Although the drive was a little sketchy, it was still worth every second of it because the mountain had great, fresh snow with hardly anyone on the slopes :) I decided to hit the skis for the first part of the day, then jump on the board for the second half! Good choice as I wouldn't have been able to walk had I skied the entire day. Again, there's nothing better in life than spending good times with great people. Thanks ladies, it was super fun. I can't wait to do it again!

Leaving Boulder in the early AM

Being Silly in the car!

Jen & Jess psyched to get on the slopes!

Breakfast time!

Aww...how cute!

The Gang about to depart...

Let it snow, let it snow :)

We're definitely getting the first big snowfall of the year and it is AWESOME!!! You know what else is awesome...good times with good people :)

Yes, Jen and I had an absolute blast making white chocolate and cranberry oatmeal cookies for Wolfgang's holiday party on Saturday which was a complete riot. I'm pretty sure we came with about half the cookies we actually made after we indulged ourselves in the batter and several of the final product! It was worth every second of it.

On the work side of things, I've been really busy getting ready for year-end and tax season. That's going to be coming up quite soon and being prepared makes life a lot easier during that insane time!

On the training side of things, I'm feeling pretty decent. I've been doing a lot of very random excercise including hopping on the elliptical, doing some yoga here and there and well, I guess just going with the flow. I hit the pool for the first time in a few weeks yesterday and I suprisingly felt pretty good. However, I'm pretty sure my shoulders and pecks are about to fall off today. Hopefully a little shakeout swim in a few will help out...we'll have to see!

Hittin' the slopes tomorrow for some skiing in the AM and snowboarding in the PM...stay tuned for some fun pics and good stories :)

Let the partying begin!!!

I know you are all wondering what's going on with the vision, but as of late, nothing new has changed...it still fluctuates daily but I do find out today when I can finally get back in the water!!! Taking 3 weeks off from swimming was not really what I had intended, but I'm hoping it will be a bigger benefit down the road. I've been spinning a fair amount on the trainer and doing some running here and there along with some really random cardio to keep myself somewhat fit for the holidays, but starting in January, I will really start to get it in gear. I just put together my schedule for next year that needs to be reviewed by the coach before released, but I promise it will be quite a shock to many of you.

Well at any rate, I'm off to jump on the trainer with the new roommie and then get things together for all the fun things going on over the next few weeks...holiday and birthday parties, visitors from out of town, friends moving this way, etc...We're expected to get a huge snowstorm so lots of skiing is planned to be done as well!!! WHOOOAAAA....

It's getting better...and worse!

But that's a good thing...I think...well at any rate, my eyesight has been going from great to crappy to good to shitty and everything in between over the past couple days. According to the doc, that is totally normal and it should settle down over the next couple weeks. Patience...yeah, learning that the hard way. It's soooo hard to see everything blurry and be totally disoriented 90% of the time and even worse when you're totally behind in work and can't do the work because you can't see the computer! Blah, blah, blah...I'm getting there slowly, but surely.

Haven't been doing too much training and still won't be able to get in the pool until next week at the earliest, but I have been sitting on the trainer here and there and going out for a jog or two. Jen and I have starting doing a little lifting and I'm hoping to get in a few yoga/core/strength classes a week as well!

It was over 70* here in Boulder yesterday with insane winds, but the mountains are getting blasted with snow which is awesome! I can't wait to get up there and actually see some significant snow this year...soon enough!

I CAN SEE!!!!

Well kinda...

I can see enough to write a small message to those who do read this silly thing and let you all know that the last couple of days have been absolute hell, but today I woke up pain-free with enough vision to make my own coffee, get on the computer and walk around in the dark without sunglasses! I have honestly not taken off my sunglasses since the procedure (even in the dark)! So I'm thinking that things will only get better from here but I do know that I will not regain full vision for another 2-3 weeks which I'll just have to live with. As long as I can function and see enough to go outside and walk around or at least spin on the trainer, life will be just fine!

I also moved into my new place on Friday, (which was an absolute disaster), but with a lot of help, everything worked out. I'll post some pics once Jon and I get things organized and actually get some furniture in here :)

The time has come...

For Lasik, baby...or PRK should I say. I'll explain later. Anyway, I am getting my eyes fixed and that's all that matters!!!

Wish me luck :)

The Michigan Way Part 2

The rest of the trip was full of fun and excitement even though the Detroit Sports teams had totally sucked it up on Sunday! Monday was a chill and relaxing day with the fam. Lots of sitting around and eating then played a little Euchre which was an absolute blast. Tuesday we went to the gym for a spin class with my mom and then out to Windsor, Canada to do a little gambling and allow the 19 year olds to get their drink on legally. Wednesday I hit the dentist to get some work done and then went to the Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues hockey game downtown which they won 3-0!!! Thursday was Turkey Day of course and we drove to Kalamazoo to visit my mom's side of the family and eat until I almost exploded...no joke.

The boys doing Jager Bombs at the bar in Canada...
Go Evan go!!!
It was definitely nice to see everyone and with a midday flight home Friday, the trip went by super fast. I have to admit that it always feels good to get home after a long trip, especially when you have a lot of work hanging over your head, but it sure was great to venture from the 'Boulder Bubble' for a bit! Now it's back to the grindstone and lots of craziness. I have my lasik surgery on Wednesday and then move into my new place on Friday. I have been packing like crazy, but every time I close another box, I feel like I haven't gotten anywhere. Where in the world do I accumulate so much crap from?!?!

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend and has lots of wonderful things to look forward to as Winter/Christmas season turns the corner!

Fun in Michigan Part 1

Oh geez...where to even start!?!? Well last Friday evening I flew into Detroit where my little brother picked me up and we headed back to his place in Ann Arbor. It was the Michigan/Ohio State football game the next day so they had friends from other schools up visiting and ready for a good time. After buying the house four 30-packs of Bush Light, the following pictures can more than describe the rest of the evening.

Jerry and I kicked some serious butt together in beer pong!I know I've talked about the infamous beer pong table, but here it is in full use!!!
This is the 'Black Widow'...an 8 person beer bong!
I had nothing to do with it...I swear!
Oh being in college...how I don't really miss any of it!
Drink up boys!
After Michigan lost on Saturday to Ohio State, I had the rents come get me early. It was a damn good thing because the boys went back out that night to party like rockstars and I just wasn't having any of it. I've been spending some quality time with the rents which is always nice and seeing some of the family. Stay tuned for more ridiculousness :)

70.3 World Championships Race Report

November 10^th, 2007

4:48.15– 32:47 Swim, 2:33 Bike, 1:37 Run

4th 20-24 Age Group

WARNING…All components of this race including the final weeks of preparation leading into it fall under the ‘Big Learning Experience’ category! And boy what a learning experience it was…

As a very new athlete in the sport with only 3 years under my belt, I had not actually completed an uninterrupted season of hard training and consistent racing until this year. My first year was pretty much a joke. I had never swam, bike or ran EVER in my life and pretty much just went with the flow and eventually found my true passion in life. My second year I went out a little too hard without much base and developed a giant stress fracture in my hip forcing me spend almost the entire race season aqua jogging in the pool! This year I had 2 main goals – the most important was to complete a full schedule and have an injury-free season and the second to finish top 3 in my age group at the 70.3 World Champs. Although goal one was a success, placing 4^th at Worlds was where the learning came into play.

What happened on race day? Unfortunately it was a combination of mental and physical burn out a few weeks prior to the big day. I began training quite hard in December and January and raced/trained straight through until October when I began feeling incredibly unmotivated, fatigued and uninterested in going hard. Since I had never gone that long before with consistent training, I hadn’t found my body’s limits and sadly hit the wall about 3 weeks before I was due to depart to Clearwater. Bummer. I knew the instant I was more excited to go skiing then go out for my favorite workouts in beautiful fall weather that something was up. I tried to push through the mental toughness but I kept finding myself breaking down and getting really upset for not knowing why I was feeling this way a few weeks before my biggest race of the season. I had a good chat with the coach and we agreed that beginning my taper a few weeks early would be a good idea and hopefully I would be really rested and pumped up to race. Although it sounded like a great idea, I still had a hard time getting those workouts in too and flew into Worlds very flat and highly unprepared. Lesson learned: NEED MID-SEASON BREAK!!!

When I toed the line the morning of the race, I was more relaxed than I had ever been before which is never a good sign for my super-agro-type A personality. It was a crappy feeling, but I knew right away that my heart just wasn’t into the race and that I was going to be out there just to enjoy the day. As the gun went off, I was so relaxed that I immediately fell into a great rhythm and joined the first swim pack. As we made the turn straight into the sun, I sighted the buoys on the opposite side and ended up swimming into the middle of the ‘rectangle’ and into a kayak who redirected me back on course. Oops. Coming out of the water I was a little irritated that I hadn’t put together one solid swim the entire year but knew I had improved greatly on the bike so it was time to go out and fly. Well, that’s what I thought at first until I realized my legs weren’t quite functioning the way they normally do. I just couldn’t turn over the pedal and was getting passed left and right. It was definitely tough to take, but instead of getting upset, I just kept chugging away knowing that it wasn’t my day. Getting off the bike was a great delight and I was very excited to head out for the run which is always my favorite event. Since I knew there wasn’t much hope to catch that place I was after, I just decided to cruise the half marathon and enjoy every minute of it. I crossed the finish line with emotions of frustration, irritation, disappointment, and joy. The race was finally over and it was the end of the year and I accomplished the number one goal of staying healthy without any injuries. Although I didn’t really ‘race’ what I had picked to be my ‘A’ race at the beginning of the year, it was okay. Nothing disastrous happened and I was able to spend some quality time with the Timex family and enjoy the rest of my trip with my mom who has been a huge supporter throughout my entire triathlon journey.

Thank you to everyone for all the encouragement and support during the 2007 season, I couldn’t have done it without you!

Where has the time gone?

It feels as though I just raced 70.3 Worlds yesterday but it's actually been almost an entire week! What have I been doing? Well, I'll tell ya how incredibly busy I've been!

I won't go into detail about the race because I'll post a race report soon, but lets just say I'm none too happy with it and quite irritated with my performance, blah, blah, blah...However, the post race party with the Timex squad was an absolute blast with some seriously good times. I spent an additional day down in Florida with my mom which was relaxing but was also another reason I feel like I have no idea where the past couple days have run off to! Once I arrived back in Boulder, it was time to catch up with everything at work, sign my lease for our new place, unpack,try to work ahead as much as possible, repack, and jump on a plane to head out to Michigan this afternoon! Yeah...talk about insane. Anyway, I really don't have time to sit on here and babble. I promise to keep more posts flowing over the next couple weeks while I'm home and getting ready for the big move and Lasik surgery the week after Thanksgiving!

Here we are!

I am just about to get into bed but figured I'd write a short blurb since I've completely slacked on keeping everyone updated this past week.

I had a pretty hectic week before I took off for Florida catching up with work, finding a place to live when I get back and packing of course, but everything panned out quite well. After arriving in Clearwater on Thursday, I met up with Ben, my mom and the couple who hosted me at their home in Mexico at the welcome dinner down at the beach. Great food and good to see everyone.

Today was fairly chill. Went for a little run with Benny in the morning, registered for the race, got everything taken care of with my bike - thanks Doug, you're the BEST mechanic EVER!!! - ate lots of powerbars from the truck, checked in all the gear at transition, had a pasta dinner and now just relaxing and getting ready for the big day. Check out the link below for a live athlete tracker and of course, stay tuned for a race report within the next couple days!!!! WHOOOOAAAAA

http://ironman.com/

This is what you do when you have a day off training!!!

Leave at 8pm on a brisk but clear evening and drive your motorcycle up the canyon to 10,000ft on a sketchy dirt trail and set up camp!

We could possibly be the biggest BMW moto snobs around, but hey, it's all good, right!?!

I'm stealing all of Shep's pics before he posts them...check out his blog for his side of the story :)

Mmmm....coffee and oatmeal. I love camping!

Shep decided to cook breakfast from the tent because he was cold...what a wienny!!!

The dirt road in the far left of the pic is what we cam up on! How freakin' cool...and fun of course!

Shep likes to tell people I am a 'badass' because I drive a motorcycle...Come on, I'm the farthest thing from that. Look how innocent I am out there!!! Haha!

One Week BABY!!!

One week from this very instant, I will be kickin' it with the legs up and ready for a long off season...or maybe I'll be partying with everyone else who is celebrating their last race of the year. At any rate, I'm feeling a lot better about the race and trying to relax about the giant taper I'm putting my body through. As a matter of fact, I've got the entire day off tomorrow so Shep and I are about to head up to the mountains on our motorcycles to do a little camping then come back down in the mid afternoon tomorrow to watch the crazy cyclocross races at Fairview HS. Everything seems to be going well, now I just need to stay injury free and motivated to kick some butt in less than 7 days....whooooaaaa!!!

It's been a little chilly lately so I thought I'd post some random photos...

Blake's mom sent a huge basket of fruit when he was gone racing so we decided to dig into it...I mean come on, it would have gone bad otherwise!!!