Boise Half IronMan

SWIM BIKE RUN...Rich and I went off to Boise, ID for the half Ironman - this was a "training" race for Rich. 1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run.He did awesomely! This was an opportunity for him to test his new bike and other equipment and his nutrition. It was a very cold swim - about 60 degree water - and super choppy the day of the race. The wind had picked up which made it super cold getting out of the water and trying to transition on the bike. I, fortunately, was back at the hotel taking a nap about that time! There was difficulty getting to the start to watch the swim as the spectators would be "trapped" out there until all the racers got on their bikes and were gone... didnt want to hang out there that long, especially once Rich left, so I opted to meet him at the second transition, from the bike to run. He had a really good swim, even with the choppy water, and took off in good time. He was, unfortunately for him, the second to last wave to start, meaning that the first group started 50 minutes before him and also meaning that there were a lot of slower people in his way that he had to pass in the swim and on the bike. The finish clock you see in the picture, is showing the time from the beginning of the first wave so is not a true time of his finish. Rich finished in 4 hours and 58 minutes, just under five hours! That is great!
Boise is an awesome city!! Perfectly sized, super great vibe, lots of restaurants, pubs, coffee shops and cruiser bikes. Really nice! Well, Rich says he is doing great and is hoping for the best at Ironman Cour d' Alene. Here's to quick feet!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....

Finally, an awesome hike. Been jonesin' for a hike for a while and finally got Amy on board on a beautiful Sunday to get out. Too much runnin' and riding to get out and play in the mountains, it was long overdue! We went out past Tooele, near Grantsville, to the Stansbury Mountains. This is west of SLC by about an hour. We were near the base of Deseret Peak, and it was beautiful! This was a new trail for us that that was cool - well worth the drive. We didnt get all the way to the lake we were heading for because we lost the trail in a snow field and tried to pick it up by bushwacking around and over, but were thwarted by a gully that we couldnt get across. Oh, well, a good reason to go back in a little while once all the snow melts! We came across this HUGE mountain lion track! Take your hand, make a fist, look at the back of your hand and draw a bigger circle, about half an inch or so around your fist - that is how big that paw print is! Yes, it gave me the eebie jeebies! But, we soon forgot about it and relaxed. A GREAT hike! Ahhhhhhh....

Pedals For Hope

The 6th grade at our school, with the direction and guidance of Kathy (yes my sister), Julie and Amy, put together a 3 day bicycle tour to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. It was an amazing accomplishment. They started out by having speakers come to the school, into each classroom, telling students their stories with cancer, then there was a kickoff assembly to get the fundraising started. Each student in the 6th grade raised money, there were penny wars in the school, and tons and tons of volunteers helping with things like food, bikes, etc. The students also went to the Salt Lake Bicycle Collective where they spent time in a service project fixing bikes for kids while learning how to fix their own. The bike tour was designed, originally, to be 30 miles; 8 the first day, 12 the second, and then 4, up a big long hill. The idea was to "conquer the climb" as a metaphor for the battle against cancer. Well, the weather didnt cooperate so we had to go to plan B (then C, then D...). The kids made their first ride and ended up camping as planned the first night. Then, the weather hit. 30 mph winds came in around midnight, flattening the tents (with kids in them!) and making it pretty miserable, no one slept. At about 6:00 am, the rain came. Torrential. The ride that day had to be canceled for safety sake. We went back to school. The next day, we got the kids out again, made sure they were suited up in rain gear and headed out on the Jordan River Parkway, for a 10 mile ride. The kids were awesome, had a great time, and were challenged. Friday, we had an all school assembly to finish off the event, and to announce how much money they raised. Their goal was $3,000, and they raised over $5,500!! It was awesome!!

Parent visit #2...

Well, it has been some time ago now, but parent visit #2 has come and gone. We had a visit from my parents for about 12 days, most of the time n the library, but good nonetheless. We did get to visit the Spiral Jetty in the north part of the Great Salt Lake.

Last time we tried we had a flat tire in the parking lot of the Golden spike and could not go down the dirt road to the jetty. Seems so close, until you go on the road. Is actually 13 miles from the Golden spike, along a very bumpy, rocky road, that really gets bumpy and rocky for the last 1 mile. Once there it is a nice place to spend a bit and walk onto the jetty. Karen and I were there 2 years ago and ALL the rocks were covered in a layer of salt, with surrounding pink sand. This time only the rocks on the lake edge had salt encrusted areas, the rest were back to the black origins. Must have something to do with time of year and water level. We also did a trip to the Bonneville salt flats for a look. Interesting place. They had started to prepare for the racing this summer/fall. You could see a well worn path on the salt toward the race area.

Busy, time for the next couple of weeks for us. We go to Boise for a half ironman next week then in 3 weeks we go to Idaho for the full one. Did my longest training day yesterday (7 hrs) and felt pretty good actually?! Hopefully it will all come together this year and get me to Hawaii. We will try and be better with the blog.

Parent Visit #1

I'm a week late, as usual, but here is a quick report on Dan and Jane's visit. Rich's parents, John and Marty are here now, more on that in a couple of weeks, haha. Dad and Jane came in April 22, we went out to the Bayou for dinner after picking them up at the airport. The Bayou rocks! It's a New Orleans style menu with something like 300 beers to choose from.
Kathy got some incredible Jumbalaya, and we had fried Twinkies for dessert! :-) Wednesday and Thursday, Dad and Jane took a road trip to Flaming Gorge and Dinosaur National Park while we worked. On Thursday night we went to dinner at a new restaurant Rich and I have been wanting to check out... turns out the one we were going to go to was closed down so we ended up there - and so glad we did. This might be some of the best food I have EVER had (everyone else, too). Rich said he can never eat dessert again as the carrot cake there has spoiled him for all others. The restaurant is called Franck's. Friday, we all went to Moab for a little bit of a vacation. We had some difficulty with the reservation (Karen will not mention that she totally screwed it up, haha) and ended up having to share one room for all five of us (my sister Kathy, too). Anyway, we were in luck because there was a super cool, really really cool, classic car show going on there. We ate at Miguel's and watched cars and had a great Friday night. Saturday, we went to the park to view all the cars and then took a tour of Arches National Park. Sunday, Dad and Jane flew home. It was a great visit, although, as always, too short.

Active Weekend

Indeed, it was an active weekend! Friday was the usual, a light workout, an easy 3 mile run for me to stay loose and ready for the half marathon Saturday. Saturday was the Salt Lake City Half Marathon. It was a really nice day, about 40 or so at the start and finishing at probably high 60s and sunny, fortunately, still early enough not to have experienced the really really strong winds that came in in the afternoon - would've been very hard to run in that, let alone breathe the dusty air. I am happy to report that I had an excellent race! I ran my best time, and in fact, took ELEVEN minutes off my time from last year, that is huge. I finished in 2 hours and 2 seconds! I was 23rd out of 123 in my age group. I'm feeling pretty pleased with that! :-) Afterwards, I came home and recuperated before going with Rich to meet some friends to bike and hike. Rich mountain biked with Ian (Tammy's husband), Chris, and Andy, and I hiked with Tammy and Tara. We girls hiked for two and a half hours and the boys rode. It was an easy hike, but definitely was feeling it after the race!! Good thing that Tammy is 8 months pregnant, that slowed her down to a normal person's pace! She's amazing. Saturday night, Tammy and I went to a little party for our director and another teacher who are leaving while the guys hung out at Tam and Ian's. Sunday was a leisurely day of cleaning the house, napping, cleaning, watching a movie, cleaning... and finally off the couch and a walk to the grocery store (about 2 miles round trip). Rich did a long trail run for about an hour and a half for his Ironman training - go Rich! :-) Monday, a nice easy bike ride to stretch my legs...

Another week...another snowstorm

Yes, I did say snow. Not only is it April and all the Daffodils are up and flowered, with occassional days in the 50's (though all should be), but it is bike season and time to get on with it. Anyway, another multi-hour ride this weekend in the COLD (39 deg). I am getting sick of looking like the Michalen man everytime I go ride. Yes, it has been a record year hear for snow. Alta has a 150+ inch base, with closing day in a couple weeks. Forecast for tonight...10-16in in the mtns, 1-2 on the benches (us). At least they are promising warm next weekend (60's), might ride in my speedo!!

On a more pleasant thought Karen ran her fastest 10 miler ever this weekend. Finishing in 1:30, for about a 9:00 pace, and felt good!! Hopefully she will feel good in 2 weeks for the SLC half, as well.

Short post today, pizza is ready!!